Collaborative music creation

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices are described for collaborative handling of music contributions over a network. Embodiments of the invention provide a portal, the portal being accessible over the network by a plurality of workstations and configured to provide a set of editing capabilities for editing music elements. Music contributions may be received at the portal. At least a portion of the music contributions include music elements. In certain embodiments, the music elements have been deconstructed from an audio signal or a score image. A number of collaboration requests may be received at the portal over the network. Some collaboration requests may originate from a first workstation, while other collaboration requests may originate from a second workstation. In response to at least one of the collaboration requests, at least a portion of the music elements may be edited using the editing capabilities of the portal.

CROSS REFERENCES

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/031,510 filed Feb. 14, 2008 entitled“COLLABORATIVE MUSIC SHARING”, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,714,222 issued May11, 2010. The application for the '222 patent claims the benefit ofpriority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/889,816 filedFeb. 14, 2007 entitled “COLLABORATIVE MUSIC SHARING”, and from U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/889,821 filed Feb. 14, 2007entitled “MUSIC-BASED SEARCH ENGINE”, and from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/028,490 filed Feb. 13, 2008 entitled “MUSIC SCOREDECONSTRUCTION” to Robert D. Taub, et al., the disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference in this application, as if set forth infull in this document, for all purposes.

This application is further related to co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/031,654, filed Feb. 14, 2008, entitled“MUSIC-BASED SEARCH ENGINE”, which is hereby incorporated by reference,as if set forth in full in this document, for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to audio applications in general and, inparticular, to collaborative music creation.

It may be desirable to collaborate on creating and experiencing musicfor a number of reasons. One reason is that musicians have varyinglevels of skill in the many facets of music, including performance ondifferent instruments, music reading, music theory, music composition,lyric composition, orchestration, and production. Another reason is thateach musician may have particular influences, background, affinities,and other traits that affect artistic vision. Yet another reason is thatmusicians may want to work together from remote locations.

Even relatively advanced music collaboration environments are oftenlimited in functionality, due to the fact that they lack the ability toprocess music contributions in many useful ways. For example, someexisting environments allow contributors to upload audio files astracks, which may be layered for playback. Some may even provide certainlimited signal processing capabilities, like modifications in theamplitude of the signal (e.g., for fading) or the ability to cut, copy,or paste sections of the signal.

Certain types of music collaboration, however, may desire to deal withmusic contributions at a more elemental level (e.g., individual notes,keys, tempos, chord changes, motifs, patterns, timbre, etc.). Forexample, contributors may desire to change the instrumentation of atrack, to transpose sections of a melody, to insert individual notes, toanalyze chord progressions of certain contributions, to synchronizecontributions from multiple contributors, and to have access to manyother capabilities. Providing many of these capabilities may requirethat the music contributions are processed to extract certain types ofelemental information from the audio signal.

For at least these reasons, it may be desirable to provide improvedcapabilities for music collaboration at the elemental level.

SUMMARY

Among other things, methods, systems, and devices are described forcollaborative creation and handling of music contributions from multiplecontributors.

Embodiments of the present invention facilitate collaborative handlingof music contributions from multiple collaborators. In one aspect,techniques of the invention can be implemented as a network site, suchas a Web portal. The Web portal can utilize audio signal processing,music character recognition technology, and music transcriptiontechniques to provide a collaborative environment for music projects.Thus, embodiments of the invention can provide a network site forhosting multiple users in collaborative development efforts.

The portal can provide a variety of features and functionality. Incertain embodiments, the portal may support audio editing functionality,including editing an audio file, initiating an audio file, sharing anaudio file, publishing an audio file, initiating a print file,customizing an audio file (such as a ring tone), supporting a portalauction or marketplace for ring tones and audio files, and adding musicand audio to video files. In other embodiments, the portal may supportnetworking and collaboration functionality, including conferencing(e.g., by text, audio, or video), and restricting access (e.g., tocertain areas of the portal, to certain files, or to certain functions).In still other embodiments, the portal may support productionfunctionality, including generation of score and audio output ofcollaborative projects.

Other features and advantages of the present invention should beapparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thatillustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In theappended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 shows a high-level simplified block diagram of a systemconstructed in accordance with the invention for collaborative handlingof music contributions.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for collaborativehandling of music contributions according to the invention.

FIG. 3 shows various illustrative types of music inputs for generating amusic contribution according to the invention.

FIG. 4A shows a flow diagram of a method for deconstructing music inputdata according to the invention.

FIG. 4B shows an embodiment of a method for deconstructing musicmicro-elements according to the invention.

FIG. 4C shows an embodiment of a method for deconstructing musicmacro-elements according to the invention.

FIG. 5A shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary system fordeconstructing audio signal input to generate music elements accordingto the invention.

FIG. 5B shows a lower-level block diagram of one embodiment of an audiodeconstruction unit according to the invention.

FIG. 6A shows an exemplary system that processes music image data inaccordance with the present invention to provide an optical characterrecognition (OCR) feature.

FIG. 6B shows exemplary image data, produced from the capture deviceshown in FIG. 6A, provided as input to the OCR processor.

FIG. 7 shows one exemplary configuration of various modules that may beincorporated within an embodiment of a collaboration portal according tothe invention.

FIG. 8A shows an illustrative embodiment of viewing functionality thatincludes three aligned views of a portion of a collaboration project.

FIG. 8B shows an illustrative embodiment of a zoomed-in view of theviewing functionality shown in FIG. 8A, focused on a particular note.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a GUI for a collaboration portal accordingto the invention.

FIG. 10 provides a block diagram of a computational system forimplementing certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative embodiment of a product according to theinvention, as a hand-held consumer electronic device.

FIG. 12 provides a simplified process flow diagram that illustratesoperation of an embodiment of a device similar to the one shown in FIG.11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This description provides example embodiments only, and is not intendedto limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention.Rather, the ensuing description of the embodiments will provide thoseskilled in the art with an enabling description for implementingembodiments of the invention. Various changes may be made in thefunction and arrangement of elements without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

Thus, various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add variousprocedures or components as appropriate. For instance, it should beappreciated that in alternative embodiments, the methods may beperformed in an order different from that described, and that varioussteps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described withrespect to certain embodiments may be combined in various otherembodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may becombined in a similar manner.

It should also be appreciated that the following systems, methods, andsoftware may individually or collectively be components of a largersystem, wherein other procedures may take precedence over or otherwisemodify their application. Also, a number of steps may be requiredbefore, after, or concurrently with the following embodiments.

Overview

Embodiments of the present invention facilitate collaborative handlingof music contributions from multiple collaborators. In one aspect,techniques of the invention can be implemented as a network site, suchas a Web portal. The Web portal can utilize audio signal processing,music character recognition technology, and music transcriptiontechniques to provide a collaborative environment for music projects.Thus, embodiments of the invention provide a network site for hostingmultiple users in collaborative development efforts.

The portal can provide a variety of features and functionality. Incertain embodiments, the portal may support audio editing functionality,including editing an audio file, initiating an audio file, sharing anaudio file, publishing an audio file, initiating a print file,custom-design of an audio file (such as a ring tone), supporting aportal auction or marketplace for ring tones and audio files, and addingmusic and audio to video files. In other embodiments, the portal maysupport networking and collaboration functionality, includingconferencing (e.g., by text, audio, or video), and restricting access(e.g., to certain areas of the portal, to certain files, or to certainfunctions). In still other embodiments, the portal may supportproduction functionality, including generation of score and audio outputof collaborative projects.

FIG. 1 shows a high-level simplified block diagram of a system 100constructed in accordance with the invention for collaborative handlingof music contributions. The system 100 includes a portal 160 connectedto a number of workstations 104 via a network 110. The network 110 maybe any facilitator of communication between the number of workstations104. For example, the network 110 may be the Internet or a local areanetwork (LAN).

The workstations 104 may be any devices or systems configured tocommunicate with the network 110 and to receive a music contribution102. In some embodiments, the workstations 104 are multi-purposedevices. For example, the workstations 104 may be computers (e.g.,laptops, desktops, etc.) or handheld devices (e.g., personal digitalassistants, cellular telephones, etc.). In other embodiments, theworkstations 104 are dedicated devices. For example, one of theworkstations 104 may be a dedicated portable device developedspecifically for providing a collaborative environment, includingreceiving a music contribution 102 and communicating with the network110. In certain embodiments, the workstations 104 are network interfacesfor a music contribution device. For example, one of the workstations104 may be a direct network interface for an electric guitar or adigital audio component.

It will be appreciated that there are many ways for the workstations 104to receive the music contribution 102 according to the invention. Forexample, the music contribution 102 may be received through an internalor external microphone, a line-level audio port, a file transfer (e.g.,from a fixed or removable data store or over a network), a score imagecapture device, etc. Music input embodiments are discussed furtherbelow.

In some embodiments, the workstations 104 are configured to generatemusic output 106. In one embodiment, the music output 106 includes audiooutput, configured to be played through a speaker. In anotherembodiment, the music output 106 includes an audio file configured to bestored, played, and/or shared over a network. In yet another embodiment,the music output 106 includes music element data (e.g., pitches,intervals, tempos, keys, amplitudes, etc.) for use by other compatiblesystems. In still another embodiment, the music output 106 includesscore representation data, configured to be used by score editingsoftware, sent to a document editing or publishing system, or printed.

Depending on the type of music contribution 102 and how thecollaborators wish to use the music contribution 102, it may bedesirable to deconstruct music elements from the music contribution 102.In various embodiments, collaborators may wish to use some musiccontributions 102 in their non-deconstructed (e.g., signal-level) form,while they may wish to use other music contributions 102 in theirdeconstructed (e.g., score-level) form. For example, say a first musiccontribution 102 includes a recorded sample of a peculiar sound (e.g.,hitting a high-tension cable with a hammer), and a second musiccontribution 102 includes a recorded performance of a drum beat.Collaborators may wish to deconstruct the drum beat to extract musicelement information relating to tempo and meter, and use the musicelements to synchronize the peculiar sound sample to certain rhythmiclocations (i.e., without extracting any music elements from the peculiarsound sample). Music deconstruction is described more fully below.

In some embodiments, the system 100 includes one or more musicdeconstruction units 120 for providing music deconstructionfunctionality. In certain embodiments, the music deconstruction units120 are resident on the workstations 104. For example, the musicdeconstruction units 120 may be implemented as client-level software. Inthese embodiments, the music contribution 102 may be deconstructed intomusic elements before being sent over the network 110 to the portal 160.In other embodiments, a music deconstruction unit 120 may be provided aspart of the portal 160 (e.g., element 120-3). The music contribution 102may be received at a workstation 104, sent over the network 110 to theportal 160, and then deconstructed into music elements at the portal160.

In certain embodiments, the portal 160 may be in operative communicationwith one or more data stores 115. In some embodiments, the portal 160communicates with the data stores 115 over the network 110. In otherembodiments, the portal 160 communicates with the data stores 115directly. The data stores 115 may be configured to store one or moretypes of information relating to music contributions 102 or music output106. For example, the data stores 115 may be configured to store rawaudio files (e.g., files containing digitized audio signal data),encoded audio files (e.g., files containing metadata relating to thefile content data or the audio signal data), music element information(e.g., deconstructed music elements stored in a multi-dimensionalrelational database, associated with their respective musiccontribution), edit data (e.g., logs or records of edits made to one ormore music contributions, or certain pointer and time stamp data toefficiently record edits without saving multiple copies of a musiccontribution), etc.

It will be appreciated that certain types of data security may bedesirable in embodiments of the invention. In some embodiments, the datastores 115 are configured to store data using certain types of datasecurity (e.g., encryption, password protections, etc.). In otherembodiments, the physical and virtual communication links betweenvarious components of the system 100 are secure (e.g., by secure socketlayer encryption). For example, the network communications between theportal 160 and the workstations 104, or between the portal 160 and thedata stores 115, may be secure. In still other embodiments, the musicoutput 106 may be secured to prevent copying, deleting, etc. Forexample, certain digital rights management (DRM) techniques may beemployed to restrict unauthorized copying or sharing of music output 106files.

In some embodiments, the portal 160 communicates with the network 110through a network interface unit 150. Certain embodiments of the networkinterface unit 150 facilitate communication between the portal 160 andthe network 110 by providing certain types of network functionality. Forexample, the network interface unit 150 may route and/or interpretnetwork traffic to allow for effective collaboration, file transfer, andother capabilities of the portal 160.

Various embodiments of the network interface unit 150 provide enhancedcapabilities. In some embodiments, the network interface unit 150 isconfigured to receive and process login information from workstations104 via the network 110. In one embodiment, the login information isused to verify a user of a workstation 104 to determine the user'saccess rights to the portal 160. The access rights may determine, forexample, whether the user can enter the portal 160, which files the usermay access, which functions of the portal 160 the user may use, etc.

It will be appreciated that many embodiments of the portal 160 arepossible according to the invention. In some embodiments, the portal 160is configured to be used through a Web browser, and is locatable at anetwork address. In certain of these embodiments, the portal 160 isconfigured to be extensible to many different browsing environments(e.g., by being written in XML, HTML, or another extensible markuplanguage). In other embodiments, the portal 160 is implemented as aclient-side application that resides on workstations 104. In theseembodiments, certain functionality may be implemented on a server (e.g.,file management), while much of the collaborative processing is done onclient workstations 104. In yet another embodiment, the portal 160 maybe resident on a separate network server for a local area network, or aworkstation 104 may be used to serve the application to the network.

Embodiments of the portal 160 include a collaborative interface unit130. In various embodiments, the collaborative interface unit 130 isconfigured to perform central functions of the portal 160, includingcollaboration functionality (e.g., virtual conferencing, change and filemanagement, etc.), music viewing functionality (e.g., displaying scoreviews, signal views, piano roll views, timbre graphs, note envelopegraphs, histograms, etc.), and music editing functionality (e.g.,synchronization, track editing, note editing, signal editing,instrumentation editing, etc.). Embodiments and functions of thecollaborative interface unit 130 are described more fully below.

Embodiments of the portal 160 further include an output generation unit140. In some embodiments, the output generation unit 140 may beconfigured to receive collaborative output from the collaborativeinterface unit 130 and generate output data. Data generated by theoutput generation unit 140 may be communicated to a data store 115(e.g., directly or over the network 110, or to the workstations 104. Insome embodiments, the output data generated by the output generationunit 140 may be music output 106. In other embodiments, the output datagenerated by the output generation unit 140 may be usable by theworkstations 104 for generating music output 106.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method 200 for collaborativehandling of music contributions according to the invention. Someembodiments of the method 200 may be performed using a system like thesystem 100 shown in FIG. 1. The method 200 begins at block 202 byreceiving login information for authenticating a user. At block 210, themethod 200 determines, based on the login information, whether the userhas rights to access the portal. If the user does not have sufficientaccess rights, access to the portal may be denied at block 220. If theuser does have sufficient access rights, access to the portal may beprovided at block 230.

At block 232, the portal may receive music contributions. Some musiccontributions may be received from the user who logged into the portalor from another user (e.g., via the user's workstation and over thenetwork). Other music contributions may be received from one or moredata stores. In certain cases, some or all of the music contributionsreceived at block 232 may be deconstructed at block 234 into musicelements. The deconstruction may be performed at one or more levels fordifferent purposes, as described further below.

At block 236, the portal may receive collaboration requests from one ormore users. The collaboration requests may include any request relatingto handling collaboration between users, handling file management,handling editing, compiling, or viewing of music contributions, etc. Inone embodiment, a collaboration request includes a request to edit themusic contribution on the portal. At block 238, the music contributionis edited in response to, and based at least in part on, thecollaboration request. Output data may then be generated at block 240.For example, the output data generated at block 240 may includeinformation relating to the edit performed in block 238.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments described with respect toFIGS. 1 and 2 are intended to provide an overview of an exemplaryconstruction and exemplary functionality of the invention. As such, thedescriptions provided above should not be construed as limiting thescope of the invention. For additional clarity, further descriptions ofcertain functionality are discussed further below.

Music Input

Many different types of music input are possible for generating a musiccontribution. FIG. 3 shows various illustrative types of music inputsfor generating a music contribution according to the invention. It willbe appreciated that the music input devices shown in FIG. 3 provide onlysome of the many possible music input devices and should not beconstrued as limiting the capabilities of the invention.

One embodiment of music input includes a raw audio file 302. The rawaudio file 302 may include audio signal data that has been digitizedinto a digital signal representation. For example, the digital signalinformation may include samples, each having a time stamp and a voltagelevel, where the samples represent an analog version of the audiosignal. In other examples, the digital signal information may be encodedto represent the audio signal algorithmically (e.g., including errorcorrection information, codec information, etc.).

Another embodiment of music input includes an enhanced audio file 304.The enhanced audio file 304 may include information to supplement orsupplant the data present in the raw audio file 302. In certainembodiments, the enhanced audio file 304 may include metadata about thecontents of the file, its format, or other useful information. Forexample, the metadata may include information manually entered about theaudio file, including a track name, album name, artist name, genre, etc.In another example, the metadata may be compatible with other systems(e.g., the album serial number and the track number for the song may besupplied in metadata to allow a certain database search to return otherinformation about the song, like its title).

Some embodiments of enhanced audio files 304 are created by passing araw audio file 302 through an encoder 330. For example, an enhancedaudio file 304 may be generated by an MPEG-7 encoder, which may use XMLto store metadata and to attach metadata to certain timestamps withinthe enhanced audio file 304. In other embodiments, the enhanced audiofile 304 may be generated by passing the raw audio file 302 through anaudio deconstructor 320. The audio deconstructor 320 may deconstructmusic elements from the raw audio file 302 (as described more fullybelow) and store them in the enhanced audio file 304.

Yet another embodiment of music input includes digitized output from acompatible instrument 306. In one embodiment, a Musical InstrumentalDigital Interface (MIDI) instrument (e.g., a keyboard) is used togenerate MIDI data. The MIDI data may include music elements. In somecases, the included music elements may be used to generate other musicelements. For example, the MIDI data may include note pitches, which canbe analyzed to determine key. In other embodiments, a compatibleinstrument 306 may be operable to output data in a usable format. Forexample, a keyboard may have digital coaxial, optical, or other types ofoutputs that may be compatible with other components.

Still another embodiment of music input includes analog output from asensor 308. In one embodiment, one or more microphones are used todetect pressure waves generated by one or more instruments and convertthem into an analog audio signal. In another embodiment, anelectromagnetic pick-up is used to translate the movement in the steelstrings of an electric guitar into an analog audio signal.

Even another embodiment of music input includes an editable score file310. The editable score file 310 may be any type of file which includeseditable score data. For example, the editable score file 310 may havebeen generated using score editing software 340. Some embodiments ofmusic input include score image 312. Embodiments of the score image 312may include any type of usable digital image. In one embodiment, thescore image 312 is a digitized representation of a physical scoreprint-out (e.g., sheet music), created by converting the printed scoreinto a digital image via an image capture device (e.g., a scanner, adigital still or video camera, etc.). In other embodiments, the scoreimage 312 is converted into an editable score file 310 by passing thescore image 312 through a score deconstructor 350. The scoredeconstructor 350 may be operable to deconstruct music elements from thescore image 312, as described more fully below.

In certain embodiments, the encoder 330, audio deconstructor 320, scoredeconstructor 350, score editor 340, or other applications may beresident on a workstation 104 (or a server computer). In otherembodiments, the music input may be, or may be used to generate, a musiccontribution 102 for collaboration. The contribution 102 may then becommunicated to a workstation 104, a network 110, or any other locationuseful for providing collaboration functionality.

Audio Deconstruction

In some embodiments of the invention, it may be desirable to providedeconstruction of music elements from music input data, like audiosignal data and score image data. It will be appreciated that there aremany ways of deconstructing music elements from different types of musicinput data. In some cases, the data may be stored in an audio file in amanner which is simple to deconstruct. For example, music element datamay be stored as header information in an enhanced audio file. In othercases, however, certain types of music elements may be non-trivial toextract from the music input data.

FIG. 4A shows a flow diagram of a method 400 for deconstructing musicinput data according to the invention. The method 400 begins byreceiving the music input data at block 402. In some embodiments, themusic input received at block 402 may include a music contribution forcollaboration.

At block 410, music micro-elements are deconstructed from the musicinput. By way of example, music micro-elements may include note pitchesand values, time stamps, note envelopes and timbres, keys, tempos, andother similar elements. In certain embodiments, music micro-elements mayinclude groups of other music micro-elements (e.g., tied notes,triplets, notes grouped by track or instrument, notes grouped bymeasure, notes grouped by contributor, etc.). In other embodiments,music micro-elements may include components of other musicmicro-elements (e.g., stems, flags, dots, etc.).

At block 450, music macro-elements are deconstructed. By way of example,music macro-elements may include information generated from analyzinggroups and patterns of music micro-elements. In some embodiments, musicmacro-elements include local or global pattern information relating togroups of music micro-elements (e.g., rhythm signatures, repeatedmotifs, chord/key changes, form (e.g., A-B-A, orChorus-Verse-Verse-Chorus), etc.). In other embodiments, musicmacro-elements include statistical information derived from sets ofmusic micro-elements (e.g., histograms of note or rhythm patterns,etc.). The music micro-elements and macro-elements may then be output atblock 490.

FIG. 4B shows an embodiment of the method 410 for deconstructing musicmicro-elements according to the invention. The method 410 begins atblock 402 by receiving a music input signal. In some embodiments, themusic input signal may be preprocessed. For example, the audio signalmay be converted from analog to digital, down-converted to a lowersample rate, transcoded for compatibility with certain encoders ordecoders, parsed into monophonic audio tracks, or any other usefulpreprocessing.

In some embodiments, pitch information is extracted in block 412 andnote onset events are extracted at block 414. In some embodiments of themethod 410, the pitch information extracted in block 412 and the noteonset events extracted in block 414 are used to extract and processother information from the audio signal received at block 402.

In certain embodiments, the information is used to determine notedurations at block 416, to determine rests at block 418, to determinetempos over time windows at block 420, to determine keys over windows atblock 424, and to determine instrumentation at block 428. In otherembodiments, the note durations determined at block 416, restsdetermined at block 418, and tempos determined at block 420 are used todetermine note values at block 422; the keys determined at block 424 areused to determine key pitch designations at block 426; and theinstrumentation determined at block 428 is used to determine tracks atblock 430. In various embodiments, the outputs of blocks 412-430 areconfigured to be used to generate output as music micro-elements atblock 490-1.

FIG. 4C shows an embodiment of a method 450 for deconstructing musicmacro-elements according to the invention. The method 450 begins atblock 452 by receiving music micro-elements (e.g., from the method 410of FIG. 4B). The music micro-elements may be used to generate a numberof types of music macro-elements.

In some embodiments, the music micro-elements are used to determine songform at block 454 (e.g.,Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Bridge-Chorus-Chorus-Outro); to determine genreat block 456 (e.g., rock, classical, jazz, Indian classical, etc.); todetermine rhythmic signature at block 458 (e.g., the first movement isin 4/4 meter at a tempo of 90 beats per minute (bpm), the secondmovement is in 3/4 meter at a tempo of 120 bpm, and the third movementreturns to 4/4 time, while remaining at a tempo of 120 bpm); todetermine contour at block 460 (e.g., the song begins with only drumsand bass at a relatively low volume and fast tempo, and after oneminute, the song adds a clean guitar line at a medium volume and aslower tempo); to determine key changes at block 462 (e.g., the songbegins in the key of C-major, modulates to F-major, quickly modulatesthrough D-minor and G-major, and returns to C-major); and to determinechord changes at block 464 (e.g., a portion of the song changes from Am⁷to Dm⁷ to Gm⁷ to C⁷ to F⁶, or the song changes from iii⁷ to vi⁷ to ii⁷to V⁷ to I⁶). In various embodiments, the outputs of blocks 454-464 areconfigured to be used to generate output as music macro-elements atblock 490-2.

It will be appreciated that many other types of music micro-elements andmusic macro-elements are possible according to the invention. Further,depending on the types of music elements needed for collaboration, amusic input signal may be deconstructed at many different levels. Forexample, a temporary drum track may be used only to provide rhythmicinformation. In that case, it may be a waste of resources to deconstructor save music elements relating to pitch, timbre, key, etc. In anotherexample, a vocal line may be used to provide a general guideline for thecontour of pitch changes throughout a section of a song. In that case,it may not be important to deconstruct precise pitches, note durations,etc.; rather it may be more efficient to extract only the generaldirection of pitch movement with approximate pitch values and durations.

It will be further appreciated that, depending on the type of music dataavailable and various application needs, there may be many ways todeconstruct music elements from the music input. FIG. 5A shows asimplified block diagram of an exemplary system for deconstructing anaudio signal input to generate music elements according to embodimentsof the invention. As shown, the input 102 is received by a musicdeconstruction unit 120, which deconstructs the input 102 to generatedeconstructed output 570.

In some embodiments, the input 102 is received by the musicaldeconstruction unit 120 at an audio receiver unit 506. In oneembodiment, a composition is received in real time by a microphone ormicrophone array and transduced to an analog electrical input 102 forreceipt by the audio receiver unit 506. In other embodiments, the input102 may comprise digital data, such as a recorded music file suitablefor playback. If the input 102 is an analog signal, it may be convertedby the audio receiver unit 506 into a digital representation inpreparation for digital signal processing by a signal processor unit510, a note processor unit 530, and a score processor unit 550. When theinput 102 is received in real time, there may be no way to predeterminethe full length of the input 102. As such, the input 102 may be receivedand stored in predetermined intervals (e.g., an amount of elapsed time,number of digital samples, amounts of memory used, etc.), and may beprocessed accordingly. In another embodiment, a recorded sound clip isreceived by the audio receiver 5060 and digitized, thereby having afixed time duration.

A lower-level block diagram of one embodiment of the musicdeconstruction unit 120 is provided in FIG. 5B. One or more audiosources 502 may be used to generate a music input signal 102. The audiosource 502 may be anything capable of providing a music input signal 102to the audio receiver 506. In some embodiments, one or more microphones,transducers, and/or other sensors are used as audio sources 502. Themicrophones may convert pressure or electromagnetic waves from a liveperformance (or playback of a recorded performance) into an electricalsignal for use as a music input signal 102. For example, in a live audioperformance, a microphone may be used to sense and convert audio from asinger, while electromagnetic “pick-ups” may be used to sense andconvert audio from a guitar and a bass. In other embodiments, audiosources 502 may include analog or digital devices configured to providea music input signal 102 or an audio file from which a music inputsignal 102 may be read. For example, digitized audio files may be storedon storage media in an audio format and provided by the storage media asa music input signal 102 to the audio receiver 506.

It will be appreciated that, depending on the audio source 502, themusic input signal 102 may have different characteristics. The musicinput signal 102 may be monophonic or polyphonic, may include multipletracks of audio data, may include audio from many types of instruments,and may include certain file formatting, etc. Similarly, it will beappreciated that the audio receiver 506 may be anything capable ofreceiving the music input signal 102. Further, the audio receiver 506may include one or more ports, decoders, or other components necessaryto interface with the audio sources 502, or receive or interpret themusic input signal 102.

The audio receiver 506 may provide additional functionality. In oneembodiment, the audio receiver 506 converts analog music input signals102 to digital music input signals 102. In another embodiment, the audioreceiver 506 is configured to down-convert the music input signal 102 toa lower sample rate to reduce the computational burden to the system500. In one embodiment, the music input signal 102 is down-sampled toaround 8-9 kHz. This may provide higher frequency resolution of themusic input signal 102, and may reduce certain constraints on the designof the system 500 (e.g., filter specifications).

In yet another embodiment, the audio receiver 506 includes a thresholddetection component, configured to begin receiving the music inputsignal 102 (e.g., start recording) on detection of audio levelsexceeding certain thresholds. For example, the threshold detectioncomponent may analyze the audio over a specified time period to detectwhether the amplitude of the music input signal 102 remains above apredetermined threshold for some predetermined amount of time. Thethreshold detection component may be further configured to stopreceiving the music input signal 102 (e.g., stop recording) when theamplitude of the music input signal 102 drops below a predeterminedthreshold for a predetermined amount of time. In still anotherembodiment, the threshold detection component may be used to generate aflag for the system 500 representing the condition of the music inputsignal 102 amplitude exceeding or falling below a threshold for anamount of time, rather than actually beginning or ending receipt of themusic input signal 102.

According to FIG. 5B, the audio receiver 506 passes the music inputsignal 102 to the signal processor unit 510, which includes an amplitudeextraction unit 512 and a frequency extraction unit 514. The amplitudeextraction unit 512 is configured to extract amplitude-relatedinformation from the music input signal 102. The frequency extractionunit 514 is configured to extract frequency-related information from themusic input signal 102.

In one embodiment, the frequency extraction unit 514 transforms thesignal from the time domain into the frequency domain using a transformalgorithm. For example, while in the time domain, the music input signal102 may be represented as changes in amplitude over time. However, afterapplying a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm, the same music inputsignal 102 may be represented as a graph of the amplitudes of each ofits frequency components, (e.g., the relative strength or contributionof each frequency band in a range of frequencies, like an overtoneseries, over which the signal will be processed). For processingefficiency, in may be desirable to limit the algorithm to a certainfrequency range. For example, the frequency range may only cover theaudible spectrum (e.g., approximately 20 Hz to 20 kHz).

In various embodiments, the signal processor unit 510 may extractfrequency-related information in other ways. For example, many transformalgorithms output a signal in linear frequency “buckets” of fixed width.This may limit the potential frequency resolution or efficacy of thetransform, especially given that the audio signal may be inherentlylogarithmic in nature (rather than linear). Many algorithms are known inthe art for extracting frequency-related information from the musicinput signal 102.

The amplitude-related information extracted by the amplitude extractionunit 512 and the frequency-related information extracted by thefrequency extraction unit 514 may then be used by various components ofthe note processing unit 530. In some embodiments, the note processingunit 530 includes all or some of a note onset detector unit 532, a noteduration detector unit 534, a pitch detector unit 536, a rest detectorunit 544, an envelope detector unit 538, a timbre detector unit 540, anda note dynamic detector unit 542.

The note onset detector unit 532 is configured to detect the onset of anote. The onset (or beginning) of a note typically manifests in music asa change in pitch (e.g., a slur), a change in amplitude (e.g., an attachportion of an envelope), or some combination of a change in pitch andamplitude. As such, the note onset detector unit 532 may be configuredto generate a note onset event whenever there is a certain type ofchange in frequency (or pitch) and/or amplitude.

Musical notes may also be characterized by their duration (e.g., theamount of time a note lasts in seconds or number of samples). In someembodiments, the note processing unit 530 includes a note durationdetector unit 534, configured to detect the duration of a note marked bya note onset event.

It is worth noting that certain characteristics of music arepsychoacoustic, rather than being purely physical attributes of asignal. For example, frequency is a physical property of a signal (e.g.,representing the number of cycles-per-second traveled by a sinusoidalwave), but pitch is a more complex psychoacoustic phenomenon. One reasonis that a note of a single pitch played by an instrument is usually madeup of a number of frequencies, each at a different amplitude, known asthe timbre. The brain may sense one of those frequencies (e.g.,typically the fundamental frequency) as the “pitch,” while sensing theother frequencies merely as adding “harmonic color” to the note. In somecases, the pitch of a note experienced by a listener may be a frequencythat is mostly or completely absent from the signal.

In some embodiments, the note processing unit 530 includes a pitchdetector unit 536, configured to detect the pitch of a note marked by anote onset event. In other embodiments, the pitch detector unit 536 isconfigured to track the pitch of the music input signal 102, rather than(or in addition to) tracking the pitches of individual notes. It will beappreciated that the pitch detector unit 536 may be used by the noteonset detector unit 532 in some cases to determine a change in pitch ofthe music input signal 102 exceeding a threshold value.

Some embodiments of the note processing unit 530 include a rest detectorunit 544 configured to detect the presence of rests within the musicinput signal 102. One embodiment of the rest detector unit 544 usesamplitude-related information extracted by the amplitude extraction unit512 and confidence information derived by the pitch detector unit 536.For example, amplitude-related information may reveal that the amplitudeof the music input signal 102 is relatively low (e.g., at or near thenoise floor) over some window of time. Over the same window of time, thepitch detector unit 536 may determine that there is very low confidenceof the presence of any particular pitch. Using this and otherinformation, the rest detector unit 544 detects the presence of a rest,and a time location where the rest likely began.

In some embodiments, the note processing unit 530 includes a timbredetector unit 540. Amplitude-related information extracted by theamplitude extraction unit 512 and frequency-related informationextracted by the frequency extraction unit 514 may be used by the timbredetector unit 540 to detect timbre information for a portion of themusic input signal 102. The timbre information may reveal the harmoniccomposition of the portion of the audio signal 102. In some embodiments,the timbre detector unit 540 may detect timbre information relating to aparticular note beginning at a note onset event.

In one embodiment of the timbre detector unit 540, the amplitude-relatedinformation and frequency-related information are convolved with aGaussian filter to generate a filtered spectrum. The filtered spectrummay then be used to generate an envelope around a pitch detected by thepitch detector unit 536. This envelope may correspond to the timbre ofthe note at that pitch.

In some embodiments, the note processing unit 530 includes an envelopedetector unit 538. Amplitude-related information extracted by theamplitude extraction unit 512 may be used by the envelope detector unit538 to detect envelope information for a portion of the music inputsignal 102. For example, hitting a key on a piano may cause a hammer tostrike a set of strings, resulting in an audio signal with a largeattack amplitude. This amplitude quickly goes through a decay, until itsustains at a somewhat steady-state amplitude where the strings resonate(of course, the amplitude may slowly lessen over this portion of theenvelope as the energy in the strings is used up). Finally, when thepiano key is released, a damper lands on the strings, causing theamplitude to quickly drop to zero. This type of envelope is typicallyreferred to as an ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelope. Theenvelope detector unit 538 may be configured to detect some or all ofthe portions of an ADSR envelope, or any other type of useful envelopeinformation.

In various embodiments, the note processing unit 530 also includes anote dynamic detector unit 542. In certain embodiments, the note dynamicdetector unit 542 provides similar functionality to the envelopedetector unit 538 for specific notes beginning at certain note onsetevents. In other embodiments, the note dynamic detector unit 542 isconfigured to detect note envelopes that are either abnormal withrespect to a pattern of envelopes being detected by the envelopedetector unit 538 or that fit a certain predefined pattern. For example,a staccato note may be characterized by sharp attack and short sustainportions of its ADSR envelope. In another example, an accented note maybe characterized by an attack amplitude significantly greater than thoseof surrounding notes.

It will be appreciated that the note dynamic detector unit 542 and othernote processing units may be used to identify multiple other attributesof a note which may be desirable as part of deconstructed output 570.For example, notes may be marked as slurred, as accented, as staccato,as grace notes, etc. Many other note characteristics may be extractedaccording to the invention.

Information relating to multiple notes or note onset events (includingrests) may be used to generate other information. According to theembodiment of FIG. 5B, various components of the note processing unit530 may be in operative communication with various components of thescore processing unit 550. The score processing unit 550 may include allor some of a tempo detection unit 552, a meter detection unit 554, a keydetection unit 556, an instrument identification unit 558, a trackdetection unit 562, and a global dynamic detection unit 564.

In some embodiments, the score processing unit 550 includes a tempodetection unit 552, configured to detect the tempo of the music inputsignal 102 over a window of time. Typically, the tempo of a piece ofmusic (e.g., the speed at which the music seems to passpsycho-acoustically) may be affected in part by the presence andduration of notes and rests. As such, certain embodiments of the tempodetection unit 552 use information from the note onset detector unit532, the note duration detector unit 534, and the rest detector unit 544to determine tempo. Other embodiments of the tempo detection unit 552further use the determined tempo to assign note values (e.g., quarternote, eighth note, etc.) to notes and rests.

Meter dictates how many beats are in each measure of music, and whichnote value it considered a single beat. For example, a meter of 4/4represents that each measure has four beats (the numerator) and that asingle beat is represented by a quarter note (the denominator). For thisreason, meter may help determine note and bar line locations, and otherinformation which may be needed to provide a useful deconstructed output570. In some embodiments, the score processing unit 550 includes a meterdetection unit 554, configured to detect the meter of the music inputsignal 102.

In some embodiments, simple meters are inferred from tempo informationand note values extracted by the tempo detection unit 552 and from otherinformation (e.g., note dynamic information extracted by the notedynamic detector unit 542). Usually, however, determining meter is acomplex task involving complex pattern recognition.

For example, say the following sequence of note values is extracted fromthe music input signal 102: quarter note, quarter note, eighth note,eighth note, eighth note, eighth note. This simple sequence could berepresented as one measure of 4/4, two measures of 2/4, four measures of1/4, one measure of 8/8, or many other meters. Assuming there was anaccent (e.g., an increased attack amplitude) on the first quarter noteand the first eighth note, this may make it more likely that thesequence is either two measures of 2/4, two measures of 4/8, or onemeasure of 4/4. Further, assuming that 4/8 is a very uncommon meter maybe enough to eliminate that as a guess. Even further, knowledge that thegenre of the music input signal 102 is a folk song may make it morelikely that 4/4 is the most likely meter candidate.

The example above illustrates the complexities involved even with a verysimple note value sequence. Many note sequences are much more complex,involving many notes of different values, notes which span multiplemeasures, dotted and grace notes, syncopation, and other difficulties ininterpreting meter. For this reason, traditional computing algorithmsmay have difficulty accurately determining meter. As such, variousembodiments of the meter detection unit 554 use an artificial neuralnetwork (ANN) 560, trained to detect those complex patterns. The ANN 560may be trained by providing the ANN 560 with many samples of differentmeters and cost functions that refine with each sample. In someembodiments, the ANN 560 is trained using a learning paradigm. Thelearning paradigm may include, for example, supervised learning,unsupervised learning, or reinforcement learning algorithms.

It will be appreciated that many useful types of information may begenerated for use as music elements or deconstructed output 570 by usingeither or both of the tempo and meter information. For example, theinformation may allow a determination of where to bar notes together(e.g., as sets of eighth notes) rather than designating the notesindividually with flags; when to split a note across two measures andtie it together; or when to designate sets of notes as triplets (orhigher-order sets), grace notes, trills or mordents, glissandos; etc.

Another set of information which may be useful in generating musicelements or deconstructed output 570 relates to the key of a section ofthe music input signal 102. Key information may include, for example, anidentified root pitch and an associated modality. For example, “A minor”represents that the root pitch of the key is “A” and the modality isminor. Each key is characterized by a key signature, which identifiesthe notes which are “in the key” (e.g., part of the diatonic scaleassociated with the key) and “outside the key” (e.g., accidentals in theparadigm of the key). “A minor,” for example, contains no sharps orflats, while “D major” contains two sharps and no flats.

In some embodiments, the score processing unit 550 includes a keydetection unit 556, configured to detect the key of the music inputsignal 102. Some embodiments of the key detection unit 556 determine keybased on comparing pitch sequences to a set of cost functions. The costfunctions may, for example, seek to minimize the number of accidentalsin a piece of music over a specified window of time. In otherembodiments, the key detection unit 556 may use an artificial neuralnetwork to make or refine complex key determinations. In yet otherembodiments, a sequence of key changes may be evaluated against costfunctions to refine key determinations. In still other embodiments, keyinformation derived by the key detection unit 556 may be used toattribute notes (or note onset events) with particular key pitchdesignations. For example, a “B” in F major may be designated as“B-natural.” Of course, key information may be used to generate a keysignature or other information for the music score representation. Insome embodiments, the key information may be further used to generatechord or other harmonic information. For example, guitar chords may begenerated in tablature format, or jazz chords may be provided.

In other embodiments, the score processing unit 550 also includes aninstrument identification unit 558, configured to identify an instrumentbeing played on the music input signal 102. Often, an instrument is saidto have a particular timbre. However, there may be differences in timbreon a single instrument depending on the note being played or the way thenote is being played. For example, the timbre of every violin differsbased, for example, on the materials used in its construction, the touchof the performer, the note being played (e.g., a note played on an openstring has a different timbre from the same note played on a fingeredstring, and a note low in the violin's register has a different timbrefrom a note in the upper register), whether the note is bowed orplucked, etc. Still, however, there may be enough similarity betweenviolin notes to identify them as violins, as opposed to anotherinstrument.

Embodiments of the instrument identification unit 558 are configured tocompare characteristics of single or multiple notes to determine therange of pitches apparently being played by an instrument of the musicinput signal 102, the timbre being produced by the instrument at each ofthose pitches, and/or the amplitude envelope of notes being played onthe instrument. In one embodiment, timbre differences are used to detectdifferent instruments by comparing typical timbre signatures ofinstrument samples to detected timbres from the music input signal 102.For example, even when playing the same note at the same volume for thesame duration, a saxophone and a piano may sound very different becauseof their different timbres. Of course, as mentioned above,identifications based on timbre alone may be of limited accuracy.

In another embodiment, pitch ranges are used to detect differentinstruments. For example, a cello may typically play notes ranging fromabout two octaves below middle C to about one octave above middle C. Aviolin, however, may typically play notes ranging from just below middleC to about four octaves above middle C. Thus, even though a violin andcello may have similar timbres (they are both bowed string instruments),their pitch ranges may be different enough to be used foridentification. Of course, errors may be likely, given that the rangesdo overlap to some degree. Further, other instruments (e.g., the piano)have larger ranges, which may overlap with many instruments.

In still another embodiment, envelope detection is used to identifydifferent instruments. For example, a note played on a hammeredinstrument (e.g., a piano) may sound different from the same note beingplayed on a woodwind (e.g., a flute), reed (e.g., oboe), brass (e.g.,trumpet), or string (e.g., violin) instrument. Each instrument, however,may be capable of producing many different types of envelope, dependingon how a note is played. For example, a violin may be plucked or bowed,or a note may be played legato or staccato.

At least because of the difficulties mentioned above, accurateinstrument identification may require detection of complex patterns,involving multiple characteristics of the music input signal 102possibly over multiple notes. As such, some embodiments of theinstrument identification unit 558 utilize an artificial neural network560 trained to detect combinations of these complex patterns.

Some embodiments of the score processing unit 550 include a trackdetection unit 562, configured to identify an audio track from withinthe music input signal 102. In some cases, the music input signal 102may be in a format which is already separated by track. For example,audio on some Digital Audio Tapes (DATs) may be stored as eight separatedigital audio tracks. In these cases, the track detection unit 562 maybe configured to simply identify the individual audio tracks.

In other cases, however, multiple tracks may be stored in a single musicinput signal 102 and need to be identified by extracting certain datafrom the music input signal. As such, some embodiments of the trackdetection unit 562 are configured to use information extracted from themusic input file 102 to identify separate audio tracks. For example, aperformance may include five instruments playing simultaneously (e.g., ajazz quintet). It may be desirable to identify those separateinstruments as separate tracks.

Track detection may be accomplished in a number of different ways. Inone embodiment, the track detection unit 562 uses pitch detection todetermine whether different note sequences appear restricted to certainpitch ranges. In another embodiment, the track detection unit 562 usesinstrument identification information from the instrument identificationunit 558 to determine different tracks.

Many scores also contain information relating to global dynamics of acomposition or performance. Global dynamics refer to dynamics which spanmore than one note, as opposed to the note dynamics described above. Forexample, an entire piece or section of a piece may be marked as forte(loud) or piano (soft). In another example, a sequence of notes maygradually swell in a crescendo. To generate this type of information,some embodiments of the score processing unit 550 include a globaldynamic detection unit 564. Embodiments of the global dynamic detectionunit 564 use amplitude information, in some cases including note dynamicinformation and/or envelope information, to detect global dynamics.

In certain embodiments, threshold values are predetermined or adaptivelygenerated from the music input signal 102 to aid in dynamicsdeterminations. For example, the average volume of a rock performancemay be considered forte. Amplitudes that exceed that average by someamount (e.g., by a threshold, a standard deviation, etc.) may beconsidered fortissimo, while amplitudes that drop below that average bysome amount may be considered piano.

Certain embodiments may further consider the duration over which dynamicchanges occur. For example, a piece that starts with two minutes ofquiet notes and suddenly switches to a two-minute section of loudernotes may be considered as having a piano section followed by a fortesection. On the other hand, a quiet piece that swells over the course ofa few notes, remains at that higher volume for a few more notes, andthen returns to the original amplitude may be considered as having acrescendo followed by a decrescendo.

All the various types of information described above, and any otheruseful information, may be generated for use as music elements ordeconstructed output 570. In addition to the music elements ordeconstructed output 570 described with reference to the variouscomponents of the system, any number of other music elements ordeconstructed output 570 may be generated from the same or otherinformation. In one example, say a note is determined to be a staccatodotted eighth note. Other music 570 elements may include the note body,stem, flag, duration dot, staccato dot, and other characteristics of thenote. Even other music elements 570 may include the style and color ofthe note representation on a display or print-out, the direction of thestem (e.g., the direction may be defaulted or dictated based on itslocation on the staff, or it may be changed to designate that the noteis part of a specific note sequence), the size of the note body (e.g.,it may be sized for readability, to distinguish it from other notes, orfor some other reason), the shape of the note head (e.g., it may be adifferent shape for a percussive sound), or any other usefulinformation. In other examples, the music elements or deconstructedoutput 570 may include staff lines, clefs, measure numbers, lyrics,lyrical alignments, page titles, staff titles, page margins,instrumentation data, playback data, etc. In still other examples, musicelements or deconstructed output 570 may include information relating towhich collaborator added or edited a portion of a file, whether othercollaborators have voted for or against the edit, or other usefulcollaboration information. The music elements or deconstructed output570 may be saved or output.

It will be appreciated that the various units and components describedabove may be implemented in various ways without departing from theinvention. For example, certain units may be components of other units,or may be implemented as additional functionality of another unit.Further, the units may be connected in many ways, and data may flowbetween them in many ways according to the invention. Even further,various embodiments relating to audio deconstruction are describedfurther in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/024,981 entitled “MUSICTRANSCRIPTION” to Robert D. Taub, et al. filed Feb. 1, 2008, which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

Score Deconstruction

In addition to, or instead of, deconstructing music elements from audiosignals, it may be desirable in some cases to deconstruct music elementsfrom score images. Embodiments of the invention are configured to acceptscore images as input. It will be appreciated that many ways arepossible to deconstruct music elements from a score image, or performscore deconstruction.

FIG. 6A shows a system that processes music image data in accordancewith the present invention to provide an optical character recognition(OCR) feature. An OCR processor 602 receives image data of a music score604 that is captured with a score capture device 606, such as a cameraor scanner. The OCR processor 602 produces music score output comprisingdata that corresponds to the music score input, albeit in a digital formthat can be put to a variety of uses. The digital representation of themusic score can be easily processed by other systems, including but notlimited to, printed output, for use by a search mechanism, fordistribution and collaboration with multiple users, and for generatingaudio output such as with MIDI components. For example, FIG. 6A showsthat the music score output can be provided to a print function 608, asearch function 610, a distribution function 612, and for audio/MIDIoutput 614.

The captured music score images can be produced with any image capturedevice, including a webcam, a phone camera, a point-and-shoot camera, aswell as other and more sophisticated cameras. Once the image of themusic score is captured, it is presented to the OCR processor foradjustments and additional processing.

FIG. 6B shows the image data 652, produced from the capture device 606(FIG. 6A), provided as input to the OCR processor 602. FIG. 6B showsthat the OCR processor 602 includes an image pre-processing component654 that receives the image data. The image data may be in the form of,for example, a bitmap image (.bmp), JPEG data, TIFF data, and other fileformats commonly used by digital cameras, and the like. The imagepre-processing component performs binarization, skew-correction of theimage, and removal of irrelevant background components. The binarizationoperation relates to adjustments for brightness and contrast in thecaptured image. The skew correction operation relates to correction ofimages that are rotated from an orientation that aligns music stafflines to be parallel to the bottom edge of the image. The irrelevantbackground component removal cleans up the image by removing noiseartifacts and otherwise unwanted background components. If desired, thepreprocessing operations can be performed by external image processingroutines or modules.

The pre-processing component 654 provides the resulting data to theneural network (NN) processing component 656. The NN processingcomponent 656 identifies music symbology in the captured image, andperforms cognitive processing of the optical image. That is, the neuralnetwork performs a computer process that recognizes the music symbols inthe captured music image and, where necessary, cognitively interpretsthe identified symbols and extrapolates from the input data to determineappropriate labels for the artifacts or symbology in the captured image.

The NN processing component 656 comprises a trained neural network thatreceives the adjusted music score image. If desired, the trained neuralnetwork can utilize its output to provide feedback and adjust itsoperation. Such feedback may entail factor graph operations to utilizeback propagation techniques, or to adjust network node weights of thealready-trained neural network. Other techniques for using output asfeedback will be known to those skilled in the art.

The output of the NN processing component 656 is provided to apost-processing component 658, which produces the output of the NN. Theoutput of the post-processing component can then be provided to variousfunctions, such as the print, search, distribution, and audio functionsillustrated in FIG. 6A. The post-processing component performs aninterpreting function on the NN output to determine which artifact typesidentified by the NN are likely correct. The interpretation by thepost-processing component 658 is based on confidence values produced bythe NN. Those skilled in the art will be familiar with interpretationtechniques for NN confidence value output data. The post-processing thenproduces the OCR processor output in a suitable format, such as musicalnote information or other information corresponding to the identifiedmusical artifacts. For example, the music information may take the formof an electronic instrument representation, such as the MIDI format, orother data format, or other combination of information.

It will be appreciated that the various units and components describedabove may be implemented in various ways without departing from theinvention. For example, certain units may be components of other units,or may be implemented as additional functionality of another unit.Further, the units may be connected in many ways, and data may flowbetween them in many ways according to the invention. Even further,various embodiments relating to score decomposition are describedfurther in U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/028,490, entitled “MUSICSCORE DECONSTRUCTION” to Robert D. Taub, et al. filed Feb. 13, 2008,which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Otheraspects of music score capture techniques may be found in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/303,812 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MUSICSCORE CAPTURE AND SYNCHRONIZED AUDIO PERFORMANCE WITH SYNCHRONIZEDPRESENTATION” to Robert D. Taub filed Dec. 15, 2005, which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

Collaboration Portal

Many aspects of the invention relate to the functionality and/orconstruction of the collaboration portal. In some embodiments, thecollaboration portal may be implemented as the portal 160 of FIG. 1.Various embodiments of the collaboration portal may providefunctionality relating to file management, music viewing, music editing,virtual conferencing, session recording, and other facets ofcollaborative music handling. It will be appreciated that manypossibilities are available regarding graphical user interface (“GUI”)design and implementation, levels of user interaction allowed by thecollaboration portal, types of GUI controls, functional crossover anddependence between modules and components, network design and interface,file management, and other aspects of the collaboration portal. As such,the description below is intended to describe only some exemplaryembodiments of the invention, and those of skill in the art willappreciate that the scope of the invention is not limited by thespecific embodiments disclosed.

FIG. 7 shows one exemplary configuration of various modules that may beincorporated within an embodiment of a collaboration portal 700according to the invention. In some embodiments, the collaborationportal 700 includes three primary layers: a login layer 702, a GUI layer710, and an output generation layer 790. It will be appreciated thatdivision into these layers is intended only to clarify discussion of thevarious functions of the collaboration portal 700, and may or may notaffect actual implementations of the collaboration portal 700.

The login layer 702 may be operable to control various meta-GUI aspectsof the collaboration portal 700. Some embodiments of the login layer 702are implemented as the network interface unit 150 of FIG. 1. In someembodiments, the login layer 702 is operable to control network routingand permissions. It may be desirable to protect or manage GUI orcollaboration project elements for various reasons. For example, say aserver stores data relating to many different collaboration projects formany different collaborators. Collaborators may want to restrict accessto their collaboration files, for example, to protect data fromundesirable edits or deletions, to protect data from undesirable viewingor copying, to see who is using the files and when they are being used,and for other reasons.

In some embodiments, the login layer 702 is operable to receive logininformation with which it may determine user access privileges. Usersmay or may not have restricted access to the entire collaboration portal700 (e.g., the collaboration portal 700 may operate as a subscriptionservice), to certain areas of the collaboration portal 700 (e.g., theremay be a tiered pricing structure allowing access to different functionsfor different prices, different levels of users may have access todifferent functions, different types of collaborative projects may beassociated with different types of functions, etc.), to certain files(e.g., a user may only have access to files associated with a givencollaboration project, the user may only have access to files the useruploaded or contributed, the user may have different types of access(e.g., read, write, edit, delete, comment, etc.) to different files in aproject, etc.), or to other information (e.g., to collaboratorinformation, to certain file management functions, to certain publishingand/or sharing functions, etc.).

In other embodiments, the login layer 702 is operable to receive loginor other information to determine characteristics of the user, otherthan access privileges. For example, certain configuration or preferenceinformation may be associated with a given user, user workstation, usercategory, etc. For example, for a given collaboration project, one setof users may be “owners” of the collaboration project (e.g., with fullrights to all aspects of the related files), a second set of users maybe “collaborators” (e.g., with access to certain collaboration andediting capabilities), a third set of users may be “contributors” (e.g.,with edit rights only to the files they contribute), a fourth set ofusers may be “fans” (e.g., with no edit rights to any of the files, butaccess to listen to published output files), and a fifth set of usersmay have no access at all. In another embodiment, the login informationis used to configure preferences of the collaboration portal 700 tomatch a profile relating to the user. For example, novice users andexpert users may be provided with different feature sets and menus.

In yet other embodiments, the login layer 702 is operable to receivelogin or other information relating to the abilities or preferences ofcertain users, including those with no access to particularcollaboration projects. In one embodiment, users submit information tothe portal relating to which instruments they know how to play, theirskill level, their influences, etc. This may help bands and others findpeople with whom to connect to receive music contributions or certaintypes of feedback. In another embodiment, users submit information tothe portal relating to their listening preferences. Bands, producers,other users, and other people and entities may then use that informationto direct or suggest potentially desirable content to those users tomeet their preferences.

In still other embodiments, the login layer 702 may control variousnetwork traffic and/or file management functions. For example, it may bedesirable to route or control the flow of network traffic and/or fileuploads and downloads based on various network characteristics (e.g.,the geographic location of the user's workstation, the number of userslogged in to the collaboration portal 700 or into the specificcollaboration project, the amount of data being transferred at a giventime, the types of data being transferred, the types of encryption beingused, etc. In certain embodiments, the login layer 702 is operable tocollect certain types of network information and use the information toperform the functions above.

In one exemplary use of the collaboration portal 700, a user mayinitiate a collaboration project. The user may begin by setting uppreferences relating to the project. For example, the user may setaccess privileges, file handling preferences, music creationpreferences, score representation privileges, etc. The user may alsoupload at least one music contribution to begin creation of thecollaboration project. In another exemplary use of the collaborationportal 700, a user may log into the collaboration portal 700 to accessan existing collaboration project. The user may then upload additionalmusic contributions to the project, edit existing information relatingto the collaboration project, or otherwise interact with thecollaboration project.

The GUI layer 710 is operable to control various user interfacefunctions according to embodiments of the invention. Purely for clarityof description, some functions of the GUI layer 710 may be describedwith respect to two sub-layers: a score layer 720 and a collaborationlayer 730. It will be appreciated that embodiments of the collaborationportal 700 may or may not be implements using these layers.

The score layer 720 as described herein may handle any or all of themusic-related aspects of the collaboration portal 700, including view722, edit 724, record and playback 726, and production 728functionalities. Any or all of these various functions may handle audioand related data in a number of different ways. For example, a user mayinteract with the audio data at the signal level, at the scorerepresentation level, or in any other way. Further, various functionsmay or may not be available to a user depending on the type of datarepresentation being used. For example, it may be desirable to providenote editing capabilities only in a score representation mode of thecollaboration portal 700, while signal processing functions may only beprovided in a signal representation mode of the collaboration portal700.

Of course, the collaboration portal 700 may also be operable to operatesimultaneously in multiple representation modes. In some embodiments,the view functionality 722 may be operable to provide multiple views, asshown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. FIG. 8A shows an illustrative embodiment ofview functionality 722 that includes three aligned views of a portion ofa collaboration project. FIG. 8B shows an illustrative embodiment of azoomed-in view of the view functionality 722 shown in FIG. 8A, focusedon a particular note.

Turning first to FIG. 8A, a score representation view 810, a signalrepresentation view 820, and a piano roll representation view 830 areshown. The time scales of the views may be aligned. In some embodiments,the various views may be operable to scroll with the progression ofplayback or recording. In certain embodiments, as playback or recordingprogresses, certain elements may remain in place to enhance the viewingexperience. For example, while the views scroll, a current playbacklocation bar 812 may remain in a location (e.g., the center) of the viewwindow to represent what data is currently being played or received. Inanother example, while views scroll, clefs, key signatures, tracktitles, meters, and other elements may remain in a location (e.g., theleft) of the viewing window.

The score representation view 810 may provide information relating toscore (e.g., sheet music) elements, including notes, staves, clefs,measure numbers, lyrics, key signatures, etc. It may be desirable toprovide certain editing capabilities relating to any or all of thedisplayed (or displayable) music elements in the score representationview 810. For example, notes may be added, deleted, or moved; sectionsof notes may be transposed, quantized (e.g., to the nearest eighthnote), etc.; stem directions may be toggled; expression markings may beadded or modified (e.g., staccato dots, slurs, accents, etc.); clefs,key signatures, time signatures, and other information may be modified,lyrics may be added, modified, aligned, etc.; repeats, measure bars, andother measure handling may be added; etc.

The signal representation view 820 may provide information relating toone or more audio signals, including amplitudes, envelopes, etc. It maybe desirable to provide certain editing capabilities relating to any orall of the displayed (or displayable) signal elements in the signalrepresentation view 820. For example, signals may be cleaned up (e.g.,by using filters, or by comparing the signal to other signal data);envelopes may be generated; note onsets and other music elementinformation may be deconstructed (e.g., re-deconstructed with adifferent resolution or using more information from other musiccontributions); signals may be normalized (e.g, to avoid differences inaverage or peak volume between multiple music contributions, or to avoidclipping); portions may be re-sampled (e.g., at a different samplingrate); harmonic effects may be added (e.g., distortion, filtering,reverb, etc.); envelope and related effects may be added (e.g., panning,fade-in or fade-out, etc.); sections of the signal may be cut, pasted,copied, etc.; etc.

The piano roll representation view 830 may provide similar or differentinformation provided in the score representation view 810, but may berepresented differently for various reasons. For example, a user may notunderstand how to read sheet music, making the score representation view810 a potentially undesirable representational scheme for that user. Inanother example, a user may want to nudge a note over slightly to subtlyaffect expressive playback of a note, but not enough to affect thelocation of the note on a score. As shown, the piano roll representationview 830 shows note pitches relative to a piano keyboard, and abar-graph-like representation of note durations over time. Otherinformation may also be provided, for example including measure bars.

It will be appreciated that many other view functions may be provided.In one embodiment, each view is presented in a selectable window whichmay be aligned with some or all of the other windows (as shown) or maybe displayed independently (e.g., may be maximized to a larger portionof a display). In various embodiments, menus and control may be providedfor enhancing the user interface experience. For example, clickableicons may be provided to allow a user to perform the various functionsrelated to a particular representation (e.g., in the scorerepresentation view 810, an “add note” icon may be provided). In anotherexample, the controls may change depending on the active representationor other actions of a user. For example, if a user selects a portion ofthe audio signal in the signal representation view 820 (e.g, by clickingand dragging with a mouse), a “extract note onset over selection” iconmay appear (or become selectable). In still other embodiments, differentmenus and options may be provided to the user when the user left-clicks,right-clicks, double-clicks, or otherwise selects notes or other musicelements in the different representational views.

In some embodiments, zoom functionality may be provided. For example, itmay be desirable to zoom into the signal representation view 820 to beable to more clearly see aspects of the audio signal. When multiplewindows are being displayed in alignment, the windows may all zoomtogether to maintain the alignment. The user may be able to zoom, forexample, by selecting a zoom window (e.g., a section of a signal in thesignal representation view 820), or by selecting a particular musicelement. In various embodiments, the “zoomed in” view may provideadditional information and may or may not be in separate windows orframes.

For example, by selecting a particular note, a user may be provided withadditional views specific to that note. FIG. 8B shows an embodiment ofthis scenario. A user selects a note 814 in the score representationview 810 of FIG. 8A. Three new representational views are provided tothe user: a note envelope view 840, a note timbre view 850, and a noteinformation view 860.

In the note envelope view 840, the portion of the audio signal relatingto the note may be provided. Other information, including derivedenvelopes, envelope crossings, etc. may also be provided. In the notetimbre view 850, the harmonic composition of the portion of the audiosignal relating to the note may be provided. Other information,including identified frequencies with high confidence, confidencevalues, peak locations and amplitudes, fundamental frequencyidentification, overtone series, overlaid instrument timbre maps (e.g.,the harmonic composition for a modeled grand piano), nose floorthresholds, etc. may also be provided. In the note information view 860,various types of textual information relating to the selected note maybe provided. For example, information may be provided relating to thenote's representational music location (e.g., track, staff, measure,start timestamp, end timestamp, duration, etc.); extracted information(e.g., extracted note onset and note end times, peak amplitude, ADSRenvelope information, etc.); quantized or otherwise calibratedinformation (e.g., rounded start and end times, predicted note values,predicted pitch, predicted key, predicted instrumentation or track,etc.); confidence values relating to various information (e.g., adetermination that the note is a quarter note may be made only with 96%confidence, etc.); etc.

Returning to FIG. 7, other functions of the score layer 720 of thecollaboration portal 700 relate to the edit functionality 724. The editfunctionality 724 may relate to the signal level of a musiccontribution, to music elements of a music contribution, to sharedelements or features across multiple music contributions or for thecollaboration project as a whole, or to any other useful aspect of thecollaboration project. In some embodiments, the edit functionality 724directly affects the music elements of a collaboration project (e.g.,the notes, tempos, dynamics, etc.). In other embodiments, the editfunctionality 724 affects the playback of the music elements (e.g., withexpressive subtleties, effects, instrumentation, etc.). In still otherembodiments, the edit functionality 724 affects the display of the musicelements (e.g., a “swinging” eighth note may be displayed as an eighthnote, even though it is played with syncopation).

Some aspects of the edit functionality 724 relate to audio and scoredeconstruction. Embodiments of audio and score deconstruction arediscussed more fully above. In some embodiments of the collaborationportal 700, music contributions are received at various levels ofdeconstruction. Music contributions which have not been deconstructed atall may be deconstructed when they are uploaded to the collaborationportal 700 or added to the collaboration project. In some cases, musiccontributions (or portions thereof) may be added to collaborationprojects without any deconstruction.

In certain embodiments, music contributions that have not beenpreviously deconstructed (or have been previously deconstructed at aparticular level) may be deconstructed when needed. For example, a bassline may be added to a collaboration project to experiment with an idea,and may be kept as an audio recording with no deconstruction into musicelements. At a later date, collaborators may wish to further experimentwith components of the bass line. As such, they may wish to deconstructthe rhythm (e.g., to re-align another track to the rhythm of the bassline or to change the tempo), to deconstruct the note pitches orintervals (e.g., so the selection may be transposed to a different keyor so the instrumentation may be changed), etc.

It will be appreciated that, while certain functions may be performed atthe signal level, the music element level may provide more or improvedfunctionality. For example, it may be impractical to determine key ormeter from the signal without first extracting certain music elements atthe note level. In another example, it may be possible to slow the tempoof a passage at the signal level (e.g., by intelligent interpolation ofsamples into the digital audio signal), but undesirable artifacts may beadded (e.g., there may be aliasing, or certain types of distortion orreverberation may sound strange deconstructed when time-expanded). Theresult may be improved by changing tempo after deconstructing musicelements (e.g., note effects may remain tied to a note, withoutaffecting the effect itself).

Other functions of the score layer 720 of the collaboration portal 700relate to record and playback functionality 726. Some embodimentsprovide traditional types of record and audio playback functionality 726provided by non-collaborative music creation and handling environments.Other embodiments, however, exploit the collaborative nature of thecollaboration portal 700 to provide additional functionality.

In various embodiments, music contributions may be added to acollaboration project in various ways, including by uploading, addingfrom a database, or recording directly into the project. In oneembodiment, a contributor records a music contribution into thecollaboration project by performing along with other portions of theproject. For example, a contributor may play a portion of thecollaboration project while simultaneously recording vocals over theplayback. In another embodiment, music contributions are added in moreadvanced ways. For example, a contributor may upload an audio sample(e.g., a recording of a marble dropping into a crystal drinking glass)and direct the collaboration portal 700 to add the sample to the firstbeat of every third measure.

In some embodiments, a music contribution may be recorded to provideparticular data. For example, a user may record a metronome track (e.g.,to aid in recording other tracks or to aid in tempo and meterdeterminations), a set of basic root-position chords (e.g., to aid inkey determinations), a set of vocal syllables (e.g., to act as a vocoderfilter to be applied to a guitar track), etc. In certain embodiments,provided audio information may be deconstructed substantially in realtime, at particular intervals, on request of a user, or at any otheruseful time.

Playback functions of the record and playback functionality 726 may alsobe implemented in various ways to exploit the collaborative nature ofthe collaboration portal 700. In one embodiment, a user may be able toplay all or a portion of a particular track in a collaboration project.In another embodiment, a user may be able to play an entirecollaboration project with all its component tracks and musiccontributions. In yet another embodiment, a user may be able to play allmusic contributions meeting a particular characteristic (e.g., from aparticular contributor or set of contributors, added or modified duringa particular timeframe, placed up for consideration by a collaborator,etc.). In still other embodiments, a user may be able to jump to aparticular portion of the collaboration project which has been recentlymodified, toggle between various proposed contributions to a particularsection, or perform any other useful playback functions.

It will be appreciated that many other playback and record functions mayalso be provided according to the invention. For example, musiccontributions may be played while they are being loaded (e.g., they maybe streamed). In another example, audio may be processed ordeconstructed while it is being uploaded, recorded, played back, etc.

Other functions of the score layer 720 of the collaboration portal 700relate to production functionality 728. In some cases, collaborators maywish to format collaboration data or add collaboration data relating tovarious types of production. In one embodiment, the collaboration portal700 includes lyric handling functions. For example, lyric handlingfunctions may include adding and editing lyrics; aligning lyrics withnotes or other music elements; and formatting lyric displays (e.g.,font, size, handling of syllables or words which span multiple notes,etc.).

In another embodiment, the production functionality 728 includeshandling of non-musical (or indirectly musical) score representationinformation. For example, the collaboration portal 700 may allow usersto add measure numbers; track titles; score titles; page headers,footers, and margins; expression and dynamic markings; score symbology(e.g., signas, codas, etc.); instrument-specific markings (e.g.,tablature grids, bow or strum directions, etc.); textual information(e.g., performance directions, copyright information, etc.); or anyother data which may be useful to a performer or other party.

Still other embodiments of production functionality 728 may includeaudio, rather than score, production features. For example, thecollaboration portal 700 may provide capabilities relating to sampling(e.g., for changing the sample rates); flattening (e.g., for removingtrack-specific or contributor-specific data); encoding (e.g., for aspecific codec or media player); etc. Other information may be providedfor or by the output generation layer 790 of the collaboration portal700.

In various embodiments of the collaboration portal 700, functionsrelating to a collaboration layer 730 are provided. In some embodiments,the collaboration layer 730 includes file management functionality 732and conferencing functionality 734.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a GUI 900 for a collaboration portal 700according to the invention that illustrates various collaboration layer730 functions. Some functions of the GUI 900 may relate to filemanagement functionality 732, while other functions of the GUI 900 mayrelate to conferencing functionality 734.

The GUI 900 provides a number of aspects, each providing various typesand levels of functionality, including a videoconferencing area 910, achat area 920, a music area 930, and a number of buttons 950. Thevideoconferencing area 910 provides features useful forvideoconferencing. For example, a video window may be provided for eachcollaborator online at the time of the video conference so thecollaborators may all have a virtual “live” collaboration session. Itwill be appreciated that various audio and video features may beincluded to enhance the videoconferencing area 910 and capabilitiesaccording to the invention. For example, audio and video controls (e.g.,volume, resolution, etc.), “call” controls (e.g., join conference,invite, hang up, transfer, etc.), and caller control options (e.g., passscreen control to a particular attendee of the conference, etc.) may beprovided.

In various embodiments, the chat area 920 may include various featuresuseful for textual conferencing or for logging. In one embodiment, thechat area 920 simply acts as a virtual notepad, recording textualinformation entered by participants in a conference session. In otherembodiments, the chat area 920 is operable to record and/or displayvideo, audio, and other data. For example, a contributor may play a riffand attach it to the chat area 920 with the text: “What do you guysthink of this?” In still other embodiments, the chat area 920 may act asa virtual whiteboard, accepting freehand drawing and text (e.g., using amouse as a pen). In yet other embodiments, the chat area 920 may beoperable to translate information for enhanced logging or usability. Forexample, the chat area 920 may automatically transcribe dialog spokenduring an audio or video conference, convert free-hand writing toeditable text, or other similar functions.

The music area 930 may provide any functions useful for collaborativehandling of the musical portions of the collaboration project. In oneembodiment, various representational views may be displayed and/orcaptured in a representation frame 932 of the music area 930. Forexample, as shown, score and signal representations of a portion of thecollaboration project may be displayed in the representation frame 932.

The music area 930 may also include a playback control frame 634. Asshown, the playback control frame 634 may include any number of controlsand indicators, including play controls (e.g., play, pause, stop,record, etc.), progress bars (e.g., progress indicators showing elapsedplayback time, progress indicators for playback during loads (e.g.,streaming playback), chapter or other indexing indicators, etc.),indicators for commenting (e.g., locations where a collaborator hasentered a comment or flagged the location), and any other usefulindicators or controls.

In some embodiments, the music area 930 provides enhancedfunctionalities. In one embodiment, collaborators may provide comments936 to portions of the collaboration file. For example, say a band poststheir collaboration file up on a fan website for fans to listen andcomment. While listening to the project, a fan (“John”) may add acomment 936 to the file, stating something, like “I like this passage,but I think it would sound cool with a jazzier bass riff like the oneson their last album.” The comment 936 may then appear as part of thefile for the collaborators or for other fans to see. Other fans may thenpost textual, video, audio, or other comments 936 in response to John'scomment. For example, another fan (“Mary”), may post a response thatstates: “I like it the way it is!” Still another fan (“Steve”) couldpost a response containing an audio clip of a new bass line he createdthat he thinks would fit perfectly with the song. In this way, thecomment 936 could become a sort of blogging tool. As shown, during avideoconferencing session, the collaborators could pull up theircollaboration project, with its associated comments 936, and discussreactions to their project.

Another enhanced function of the music area 930 may be the ability toedit within the music area 930 in collaborative ways. In variousembodiments, the collaborators have access to all the applicablefunctions of the collaboration portal 700 from within the music area930. In other embodiments, further functionality is provided, like theability to virtually “draw” on the music area 930. For example, during avideoconferencing session, a collaborator may wish to pause the playbackof the collaboration project and point out a note that he does not like.Using the virtual drawing functionality, the collaborator may virtuallydraw a circle around the note and even an arrow pointing to the note938. It will be appreciated that this and other similar information maybe stored in a log of the conferencing session, in association with thecollaboration project, temporarily during the session, or not at all,depending on certain preferences.

Embodiments of the GUI 900 may also provide any number of othercontrols. In some embodiments, a number of buttons 950 are provided foraccess to other certain functionality of the collaboration portal 700.It will be appreciated that access to portal functionality may beprovided in many other ways according to the invention, including byusing menus, other windows and modules, etc. By way of example, eightbuttons 950 are shown in FIG. 9: “Add Contribution,” “Jam Session Mode,”“Toggle Playback,” “Play/Record Options,” “Preferences,” “CollaborationMenu,” “Bulletin Board,” and “Search.”

The “Add Contribution” button may allow users of the GUI 900 to add amusic contribution to the collaboration project. During the add process,other options may also be provided (e.g., by providing other menus). Forexample, the music contribution may be added as a new track or to anexisting track, or as one of a number of options for a section of theproject; the audio may be processed during addition (e.g., bydown-converting, deconstructing, etc.); or the audio may be synchronizedor quantized to certain parameters (e.g., to a drum track).

The “Jam Session Mode” button may allow users to enter a virtual jamsession. In this exemplary mode, participants may play all or part ofthe collaboration project while “jamming” (e.g., performing) together.Additional options may allow participants to, for example, loop sectionsof the collaboration project (e.g., to keep trying new ideas over thesame passages or to practice a section of a song), to record all or partof the jam session (e.g., in real time), to auto-deconstruct all or partof the jam session (e.g., to create music elements, to generate a score,etc.), etc.

The “Toggle Playback” button may allow collaborators to toggle betweenmultiple potential passages in a collaboration project. For example, saythree different contributors (e.g., two fans and a band member) allsubmitted ideas for a vocal track. During playback of the collaborationproject (e.g., during a videoconference), the collaborators may be ableto toggle among the three submissions to decide which, if any, they likebest.

Additional functionality may allow the collaborators to select passagesthey prefer. For example, some embodiments of the GUI 900 may providecollaborators with voting buttons that allow the collaborators to votefor a particular submission. Of course many additional controls,indicators, and functions are possible to support or enhance thiscapability. For example, the collaboration portal 700 may be operable tokeep track of the votes, generate statistics, determine a winner, allowfor voting by other parties (e.g., fans), etc.

The “Play/Record Options” button may provide access to any number ofplay and record options. For example, selecting the button may cause amenu to be displayed in the GUI 900 with options to select which tracksto play, whether to lock down certain tracks to prevent further editing,etc. Some of the other play and record functions which may be availableare discussed further above.

The “Preferences” button may provide a user with access to any number ofpreferences. In some embodiment, many preferences are available forconfiguring the GUI 900. For example, a user may select the sizes,availabilities, and functions of the different frames, areas, controls,and indicators provided by the GUI 900. In other embodiments,preferences are available for configuring conferencing, user profiles,and any other feature of the collaboration portal 700.

The “Collaboration Menu,” button may provide options relating tocollaboration. For example, the menu may provide conferencing options(e.g., start conference, end conference, invite attendee, blockattendee, display attendee information, etc.), security settings (e.g.,relating to digital rights management, encryption, file access, etc.),change user status (e.g., give specific permissions to specific users),publication options (e.g., enter publication mode, publish collaborationproject to fan site, burn demo track, etc.), etc.

Other features of a collaboration menu may relate to file management.Music contributions and other files relating to a collaboration projectmay come from different sources, be stores in different locations, bestored in different formats, contain different types of information,have different security settings, etc. As such, many functions of thecollaboration portal 700 may relate to allowing certain users to handlefile management. Additionally, it may be desirable in a collaborativeenvironment, to provide functionality relating to change management. Forexample, collaborators may wish to be able to lock down files to preventfurther changes, to limit changes to certain users, to record previousversions of a file (e.g., in some cases limited to some number ofversions, for some amount of time, etc.), and to have other types ofcontrol over changes to the collaboration project.

The “Bulletin Board” button may provide access to a virtual bulletinboard, where users may post different types of items. For example, fansmay post general statements about the band (e.g., about the musicdirection, latest concert tour, latest album, members, etc.), auditiontapes and music contributions, etc.; the collaborators may postquestions to fans, flyers for upcoming shows, responses to fan comments,etc.; and any other useful information.

The “Search” button may provide access to various search functions,including music-based search functions. In one embodiment, collaboratorsmay search for musicians with certain characteristics (e.g., from ageographic area, with certain training, with certain influences, etc.)as potential future contributors to or members of their band, group,orchestra, etc. In another embodiment, musicians may wish to search formusic “clip art.” For example, a musician may wish to browse through alibrary of melodic lines written in 7/8 meter to get inspiration forpart of a collaboration project. The library may, for example, beautomatically generated from a database of deconstructed audio files,contributed as an open music-sharing database, posted to a database forsale, etc. In yet another embodiment, musicians may wish to search forsimilar passages to ones they wrote to avoid or detect potentialcopyright infringement or other unauthorized use of compositional works.Embodiments of music-based searching functionality are provided in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/031,654, entitled “MUSIC-BASED SEARCHENGINE” to Robert D. Taub, et al., which is filed Feb. 14, 2008, andincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

While the description above has focused primarily on usage of the GUI900 by bands and groups of musicians, it will be appreciated that manyother types of users are possible. In one embodiment, producers andengineers can use the collaboration portal 700 to collaborate on finalmusic outputs. In another embodiment, marketing personnel, disc jockeys,and other people may collaborate with a band and/or others to commenton, help finalize, or preview music. In yet another embodiment,musicians may use the collaboration portal to learn music. For example,a group may be able to practice together within the GUI 900, or a new orpotential member of a band may be able to play through songs to practiceor audition.

In one exemplary usage of the collaboration portal 700, a student maywish to meet with his piano teacher over the internet to get help with adifficult passage. The score may be displayed in the music area 930, andthe student and teacher may begin a videoconference in thevideoconferencing area 910. As the student plays, the teacher may beable to point out mistakes or areas of improvement using variousfeatures of the GUI 900. Alternately, the teacher may be able to playportions of the piece for the student to hear.

In another exemplary usage of the collaboration portal 700, a studentmay wish to practice a piano piece. The score may be displayed in themusic area 930, and the student may enter a practice mode. As thestudent plays, his music input may be automatically deconstructed intomusic elements (e.g., at least to a level necessary for display as ascore representation). A score representation of the student'sperformance may also be displayed in the music area 930. For example, asthe student plays, he may see the score representation of hisperformance being overlaid on the original score in the music area 930(e.g., in a different color). The student may then be able to clearlysee where there are mistakes in his performance (e.g., in note pitchand/or duration). Further functionality may help the student identifyareas of improvement, areas needing additional practice, skills needingadditional practice, scores and tracking to show improvement over time,practice logs and records for use by the student's teacher, and anyother useful information. For example, the collaboration portal 700 mayidentify that the student plays incorrect notes whenever large jumpsappear in the music. The collaboration portal 700 may then eithergenerate or identify a set of exercises (or other pieces) to help thestudent practice that skill.

During or after the creation of a collaboration project, it will beappreciated that many types of output of many different types of dataare possible. As shown in FIG. 7, other functionality of thecollaboration portal 700 may relate to output generation. In someembodiments, the output generation is handled by an output generationunit, like the output generation unit 140 shown in FIG. 1.

In various embodiments, output from the collaboration project is used togenerate score-representational output. In one embodiment, musicelements deconstructed from audio or score input, or otherwise received,are processed to automatically generate a music score representation.Conventional software packages and libraries may be available forproducing sheet music from the music score representation. Many suchtools accept input in the form of a representation of the composition ina predetermined format, such as the MIDI or the like. Therefore, someembodiments of the system generate a music score representation that issubstantially in compliance with the MIDI standard to ensurecompatibility with such conventional tools. Once the music scorerepresentation is created, the potential applications are many-fold. Invarious embodiments, the score is either displayed on a device display,printed out, imported into music publishing programs, stored, or sharedwith others (e.g., for another collaborative music project).

In other embodiments, output from the collaboration project is used togenerate audio-representational output. In one embodiment, theaudio-representational output is compatible with an audio storage and/orplayback device. For example, the audio-representational output may becompatible with burning to an audio compact disc, to an MP3 file, or toany other proprietary or non-proprietary format. In another embodiment,the audio-representational output may be configured for use by an audiosignal processing system. In yet other embodiments, theaudio-representational output may be operable to be directly orindirectly played through audio playback components (e.g., digital homeaudio components, speakers, sound cards, etc.).

Other embodiments of output generation, the representational output fromthe collaboration portal 700 is configured to be stored for later use orsent to another system In one embodiment, output data is sent over thenetwork to a client workstation for further processing. For example, aclient workstation may be used to deconstruct audio output, to playbackaudio signal data, or to perform any of the other output functions ofthe collaborative portal 700.

Exemplary Implementations

The systems and methods described above may be implemented in a numberof ways. One such implementation includes various electronic components.For example, units of the various systems may, individually orcollectively, be implemented with one or more Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of theapplicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may beperformed by one or more other processing units (or cores), on one ormore integrated circuits. In other embodiments, other types ofintegrated circuits may be used (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and other Semi-Custom ICs), which maybe programmed in any manner known in the art. The functions of each unitmay also be implemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodiedin a memory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

FIG. 10 provides a block diagram of a computational system 1000 forimplementing certain embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment,the computation system 1000 may function as the portal 160 shown inFIG. 1. It should be noted that FIG. 10 is meant only to provide ageneralized illustration of various components, any or all of which maybe utilized as appropriate. FIG. 10, therefore, broadly illustrates howindividual system elements may be implemented in a relatively separatedor relatively more integrated manner.

The computational system 1000 is shown comprising hardware elements thatcan be electrically coupled via a bus 1026 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements can include one ormore processors 1002, including without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration chips,and/or the like); one or more input devices 1004, which can include,without limitation, a mouse, a keyboard, and/or the like; and one ormore output devices 1006, which can include without limitation a displaydevice, a printer, and/or the like.

The computational system 1000 may further include (and/or be incommunication with) one or more storage devices 1008, which cancomprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storageand/or can include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, solid-state storage device such as a randomaccess memory (“RAM”), and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. The computationalsystem 1000 might also include a communications subsystem 1014, whichcan include without limitation a modem, a network card (wireless orwired), an infra-red communication device, a wireless communicationdevice and/or chipset (such as a Bluetooth device, an 802.11 device, aWiFi device, a WiMax device, cellular communication facilities, etc.),and/or the like. The communications subsystem 1014 may permit data to beexchanged with a network (such as the network described below, to nameone example), and/or any other devices described herein. In manyembodiments, the computational system 1000 will further comprise aworking memory 1018, which can include a RAM or ROM device, as describedabove.

The computational system 1000 also may comprise software elements, shownas being currently located within the working memory 1018, including anoperating system 1024 and/or other code, such as one or more applicationprograms 1022, which may comprise computer programs of the invention,and/or may be designed to implement methods of the invention and/orconfigure systems of the invention, as described herein. Merely by wayof example, one or more procedures described with respect to themethod(s) discussed above might be implemented as code and/orinstructions executable by a computer (and/or a processor within acomputer). In one embodiment, the audio and/or score deconstructionunits 120 of FIG. 1, and various other client-side methods areimplemented as application programs 1022 readable by the computationalsystem 1000.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on a computerreadable storage medium 1010 b. In some embodiments, the computerreadable storage medium 1010 b is the storage device(s) 1008 describedabove. In other embodiments, the computer readable storage medium 1010 bmight be incorporated within a computer system. In still otherembodiments, the computer readable storage medium 1010 b might beseparate from the computer system (i.e., a removable medium, such as acompact disc, etc.), and or provided in an installation package, suchthat the storage medium can be used to program a general purposecomputer with the instructions/code stored thereon. These instructionsmight take the form of executable code, which is executable by thecomputational system 1000 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputational system 1000 (e.g., using any of a variety of generallyavailable compilers, installation programs, compression/decompressionutilities, etc.), then takes the form of executable code. In theseembodiments, the computer readable storage medium 1010 b may be read bya computer readable storage media reader 1010 a.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

In some embodiments, one or more of the input devices 1004 may becoupled with an audio interface 1030-1. The audio interface 1030-1 maybe configured to receive a music contribution 102-1 by interfacing witha microphone, instrument, digital audio device, or other audio signal orfile source, for example physically, optically, electromagnetically,etc. In other embodiments, one or more of the input devices 1004 may becoupled with a score interface 1030-2. The score interface 1030-2 may beconfigured to receive a score contribution 102-2 by interfacing with acamera, scanner, digital imaging device, or other digital image source.

Further, in some embodiments, one or more of the output devices 1006 maybe coupled with an audio output device 106-1. The audio output device106-1 may be configured to output audio signal data generated byembodiments of the invention to one or more systems or devices capableof handling that data, for example a speaker, audio component,digital-to-analog converter, compact disc writer, etc. In otherembodiments, one or more of the output devices 1006 may be coupled witha score output device 106-2. The score output device 106-2 may beconfigured to output score representation data generated by embodimentsof the invention to one or more systems or devices capable of handlingthat data, for example score transcription software, score publicationsystems, file storage devices, etc.

In one embodiment, the invention employs a computer system (such as thecomputational system 1000) to perform methods of the invention.According to a set of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of suchmethods are performed by the computational system 1000 in response toprocessor 1002 executing one or more sequences of one or moreinstructions (which might be incorporated into the operating system 1024and/or other code, such as an application program 1022) contained in theworking memory 1018. Such instructions may be read into the workingmemory 1018 from another machine-readable medium, such as one or more ofthe storage device(s) 1008 (or 1010). Merely by way of example,execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the workingmemory 1018 might cause the processor(s) 1002 to perform one or moreprocedures of the methods described herein.

The terms “machine readable medium” and “computer readable medium,” asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodimentimplemented using the computational system 1000, variousmachine-readable media might be involved in providing instructions/codeto processor(s) 1002 for execution and/or might be used to store and/orcarry such instructions/code (e.g., as signals). In manyimplementations, a computer readable medium is a physical and/ortangible storage medium. Such a medium may take many forms, includingbut not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmissionmedia. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magneticdisks, such as the storage device(s) (1608 or 1010). Volatile mediaincludes, without limitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory1018. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiberoptics, including the wires that comprise the bus 1026, as well as thevarious components of the communication subsystem 1014 (and/or the mediaby which the communications subsystem 1014 provides communication withother devices). Hence, transmission media can also take the form ofwaves (including, without limitation, radio, acoustic, and/or lightwaves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red datacommunications).

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punchcards, papertape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chipor cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code.

Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 1002for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computational system 1000. Thesesignals, which might be in the form of electromagnetic signals, acousticsignals, optical signals, and/or the like, are all examples of carrierwaves on which instructions can be encoded, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

The communications subsystem 1014 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive the signals, and the bus 1026 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 1018, from which the processor(s) 1002 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 1018 may optionally be stored on a storage device 1008 eitherbefore or after execution by the processor(s) 1002.

It will be appreciated that many implementations of the system arepossible according to the invention which may or may not incorporate thecomponents or functionality described with respect to FIG. 10. In someembodiments, the system is implemented as a dedicated device. The devicemay include one or more internal microphones, configured to senseacoustic pressure and convert it into a music contribution for use bythe system. Alternately, the device may include one or more music inputports for interfacing with external microphones, media devices, datastores, or other audio sources. In certain of these embodiments, thedevice may be a handheld or portable device. In other embodiments, thesystem\may be implemented in a multi-purpose or general purpose device(e.g., as software modules stored on a computer-readable medium forexecution by a computer). In certain of these embodiments, the audiosource may be a sound card, external microphone, or stored audio file.The input is then generated and provided to the system.

Other embodiments of the system may be implemented as a simplified ormonaural version for operation as a music dictation device, whichreceives audio from users who play an instrument or sing a certain tuneor melody or a part thereof into one microphone. In thesingle-microphone arrangement, the system subsequently translates therecorded music from the one microphone into the corresponding musicscore. This may provide a musical equivalent to text-to-speech softwarethat translates spoken words and sentences into computer-readable text.As a sound-to-notes conversion, the tune or melody will be registered asif one instrument where playing.

It will be appreciated that different implementations of the system mayalso include different types of interfaces and functions relating tocompatibility with users and other systems. For example, input ports maybe provided for line-level inputs (e.g., from a stereo system or aguitar amplifier), microphone inputs, network inputs (e.g., from theInternet), or other digital audio components. Similarly, output portsmay be provided for output to speakers, audio components, computers, andnetworks, etc. Further, in some implementations, the system may provideuser inputs (e.g., physical or virtual keypads, sliders, knobs,switches, etc.) and/or user outputs (e.g., displays, speakers, etc.).For example, interface capabilities may be provided to allow a user tolisten to recordings or to data extracted from the recordings by thesystem.

In one embodiment, the features of the invention are implemented insoftware, comprising an application that can be installed on a digitalcomputer. The software implementation preferably provides input andoutput interfaces for the performer. That is, the host computer in whichthe software is installed typically includes a display for producing avisual presentation of a music score that the performer can read, tosing along or play the performer's musical instrument. The computer alsotypically includes an input interface, such as a microphone, forrecording the performer's session, and includes an output interface,such as speakers, to enable the performer to listen to the recordedperformance. The computer implementation can include image capture,wherein a music score comprising notes on a staff can be digitized viaan optical input means and then entered into the computer. The digitizedmusic score can be interpreted via OCR techniques, with the resultinginterpreted data being processed so as to produce a synthesized audiorendition of the music score, including when appropriate a synthesizedvocal rendition matching words with appropriate pitch, such that theaudio rendition is synchronized with a visual presentation of the score.In the additional detailed descriptions provided below, the computersoftware implementation is referred to as a “Level X” implementation oris referred to as the “eMuse X” product (the name “eMuse” referring to aproduct embodiment from MuseAmi, Inc. of Princeton, N.J., USA, theassignee of all rights in the invention).

In another embodiment, the features of the invention are embodied in ahandheld device that can include a display, an input interface, audioand visual output interfaces, and OCR image interpretation interfaces.The handheld device implementation includes a variety of convenient usercontrol knobs and mechanisms for convenient navigation of the devicefunctions. The display supports a visual presentation of menu optionsfor selection of functions by the user.

As described further below, a computing device interprets and processesmusic score data by receiving the music score data from an externalsource and subsequently producing a synthesized audio rendition of themusic score data and a synchronized visual presentation of music score.

The external source can consist of a network data source that providesthe music score data to the computing device over a network connection.The network connection can consist of communication between thecomputing device and the network over a wireless connection.

The music score data can be read from a recorded medium by accepting therecorded medium into a reader of the computing device that then obtainsthe music score data from the recorded medium. The recorded mediumcontains sufficient data for synthesized audio rendition in accordancewith a MIDI specification for synthesized music production. That is, thecomputing device can receive data that specifies a music score and cangenerate or synthesize corresponding musical tones in a selected tempo,timbre, clef, key signature, time signature, and the like. The recordedmedium can comprise a flash memory device.

The computing device can be provided with ability for recording a userperformance of a music score and providing playback of the recorded userperformance. The user performance playback can occur independently ofthe synthesized music score rendition, or can occur simultaneously. Inaddition, the user performance playback can be provided along with avisual representation of the musical notes corresponding to the recordeduser performance. In this way, a “music dictation” feature is provided.

In one alternative, the music score data used by the device to generateboth the synthesized audio rendition and the synchronized visualpresentation of the music score can be obtained by the device opticallycapturing a digital image of a music score, then interpreting andprocessing the digital information to produce a collection of datarepresenting appropriate music notes, thus generating data thatcorresponds to the music score.

In addition, music contextual information can be provided thatdetermines characteristics of the synthesized audio rendition of themusic score data, all of which may be adjusted by the user. Such musiccontextual information can include multiple key signatures, timesignatures timbre, tempo and expressive terms such as legato, crescendo,ritard, etc.

In another alternative, producing an audio playback of the music scoredata and a visual presentation of musical notes is effected throughcommunication with a network data source. If desired, the network datasource provides the music score data to the computing device. In yetanother alternative, the network data source can provide to thecomputing device the music contextual information that determines musiccharacteristics of the synthesized audio rendition of the music scoredata. Also, the network data source can provide the music contextinformation over a wireless connection.

In one alternative, producing a synthesized audio rendition of the musicscore data and a synchronized visual presentation of music score iseffected by inserting a recorded medium into a reader of the computingdevice. If desired, the computing device obtains the music score datafrom the recorded medium, and the recorded medium can also provide themusic contextual information to the computing device for determiningmusic characteristics of the synthesized audio rendition of the musicscore data.

One optional feature is to provide recording of the user's instrumentaland/or vocal performance of the music score. Another alternative is toproduce a synthesized audio rendition in accordance with a MIDIspecification. In addition, producing the visual presentation canconsist of displaying the music score synchronized with thecorresponding synthesized audio rendition. Another option is to providesimultaneous synchronized playback, playback of both the visualpresentation and audio rendition of the music score data and both theaudio component of the recorded user performance and a synchronizedcorresponding visual display of the music score generated by the userperformance.

In accordance with the invention, a computing device can opticallydigitally capture a music score and interpret the digital image,generating music score data for the computing device that corresponds tothe digitally captured music score, and produce a synthesized audiorendition of the music score data and a synchronized visual presentationof music score. The computing device can receive music contextualinformation that is used by the computing device to determine musiccharacteristics of the synthesized audio rendition of the music scoredata. Similarly to the alternative embodiment described above, the musiccontextual information can include multiple key signatures, timesignatures timbre, tempo and expressive terms such as legato, crescendo,ritard, etc. that can be selected by the user to determine the musiccharacteristics of the synthesized audio rendition of the music scoredata. As an option, the computing device identifies the music contextualinformation from the optically digitally captured music score, andoptionally can obtain the music contextual information from a networkdata source. If desired, the network data source provides the musiccontextual information over a wireless connection with the computingdevice.

The computing device can be provided with its own loudspeakers for audioplayback of synthesized renditions and/or performances recorded by theuser. Additionally, the device can include an output jack for connectionto headphones or external loudspeakers or the like, and can also beprovided with wireless transmission capability that allows the device totransmit an audio performance to a wireless sound playback system (suchas a home stereo system that has been enabled with wireless components).The device has sufficient computing memory to enable it to store musicalpassages of predetermined length.

The additional detailed descriptions below refer to variousimplementations of features in the handheld device implementation andare referred to as “Level 1” and “Level 2” or “eMuse 1” and “eMuse 2”,respectively.

The following discussion describes music playback software that can beinstalled on a range of digital computing devices, and also describesembodiments of a handheld sheet music reading device, hereincollectively referred to as the eMuse product.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative embodiment of a product as a hand-held,battery powered “point and shoot” consumer electronic device 1100 thatcaptures an image of a selected musical passage—either a few measures oreven an entire page—from sheet music, formats and encodes the passagedigitally, then plays the selected passage, all virtuallyinstantaneously in real time. The playback sound is instrument-specific,playing in a timbre (e.g., the sound of a piano, violin, flute, etc.)selected by the user. Multiple timbres can be played simultaneously. Thedevice 1100 is designed to recognize music variables, such as keysignature, meter, volume, and tempo, and account for music prose terms,such as forte, piano, cress., legato, and the like. An LCD screen 1102displays the music passage 1104 as the device is playing it back, witheach played note highlighted in a unique color so as to distinguish itfrom the rest of the music score.

The FIG. 11 device 1100 incorporates a digital “music card” feature,which supports insertion of a data card (not illustrated) that isencoded with one or more recorded or downloaded music pieces, and allowsfor quick reference to specific measures. The data card can compriserecordable media such as typically used by cellular telephones anddigital cameras. The data card is received into a card slot 1106 of thedevice 1100. The device 1100 also works with digital data representingencoded music pieces. Downloaded files can also be saved within memoryof the device. The encoded music pieces provide an enriched listeningexperience, allowing for quick reference to specific measures of themusic score.

A record/playback feature of the device 1100 allows the user toimmediately evaluate a recorded performance with reference to the musicscore. That is, the device 1100 can record a user's performance of themusic piece and play back the user's performance, along with (orsimultaneous with) playback of the received music piece. The userperformance playback can be presented with a corresponding visualpresentation, providing a “music dictation” feature. Both a metronomeand a music tone tuner capability are also incorporated into the device,and the device can be adjusted for a “music minus one” feature. In amulti-staff or multi-part piece of music, the “music minus one” featureallows the user to determine which part(s) of the piece will be playedback by the MIDI interface. This allows the user to play/sing a specificpart along with the device.

FIG. 11 shows the device 1100 as a hand-held device with a flip-top 1108having the LCD screen 1102 incorporated in the underside of the lid ortop 1108. The device also incorporates a speaker 1110 for music playback(a stereo pair are illustrated in FIG. 11) and a microphone 1112 forrecording a user performance. Image capture capability can beimplemented as shown in FIG. 11, wherein the flip-top 1108 includes acamera system comprising an optical lens mounted in the outside surfaceof the flip-top 1108 and triggered by a lens shutter button 1114 forpurposes of image capture. Various user interface controls are provided,shown as thumbwheels for adjusting volume 1116, playback tempo 1118,menu navigation 1120, and position 1122. The device 1100 can be providedwith a USB port 1124, for more easily connecting with a network or otherdevices. An on/off switch 1125 turns the device 1100 on and off.

Control buttons are also provided for controlling, as illustrated inFIG. 11, functions involving renditions of the music score (synthesizedperformance) and playback of the user's performance. FIG. 11 showsexemplary control buttons for the functions of play/pause 1126, stop1128, next/reset 1130, and record 1132. FIG. 11 also shows a metronomereadout display 1134 that shows a timing indicator and is correlatedwith the playback tempo 1118. Selection of the metronome function, andthe other features of the device 1100, is accomplished with menunavigation of the LCD screen 1102 in conjunction with operation of themenu thumbwheel 1120 and/or the position thumbwheel 1122. Selection canbe achieved through operation of the next/reset control button 1130. Akeyboard or keypad 1135 can be used for input via dedicated functionkeys of the keypad 1135 or alphanumeric input from the keypad 1135. Onthe LCD screen 1102, graphical images of music notes from the musicpassage 1104 are provided, moving across the screen, with individualnotes appearing on-screen or being highlighted in the display as thenotes are played. The display preferably provides a music staff imagethat is extended during playback so a predetermined number of notes ormeasures of music are displayed as the music passage 1104 is played.

In one embodiment of the device 1100, a digital camera system 1114captures an image of a passage (a single note, several measures, or evenan entire page) within a music score. The digital camera can be builtinto the device 1100 and can comprise a lens and image transducercombination that will be familiar to those skilled in the art. The LCDscreen 1102 allows the user to determine exactly which measures arecaptured. The device can read a single stave music line, duets, trios,quartets, or even a full conductor's score. The device 1100 offersmultiple simultaneous timbres.

The OCR module may receive the “photograph” of the music excerpt,comprising digitized image data. Important additional music contextualinformation, such as key signature and meter, is also sent to the OCRmodule, via a music score digital image or via a “cheat sheet” (e.g.,downloaded from a website, then transmitted wirelessly or via the USBport to the device—see below) that lists all available key signaturesand time signatures. The “cheat sheet” may also include a section fromwhich the user can select the desired timbre(s), or the user canmanually specify (input) the desired timbre(s).

In another embodiment, the device 1100 may provide MIDI synthesizerfunctionality. The OCR module may send the sound information to the MIDImodule that produces synthesized sound. This offers adjustable timbre;the user specifies the type of instrument (piano, violin, flute, etc.)for the particular music passage or piece. The module also offersadjustable tempo so that the user can hear the passage slower (orfaster) than the metronomic (if any) indicated in the score without anyalteration of pitch. The device plays back through its own smallloudspeaker, and also has a headphone jack 1134 and wireless capabilityfor headphones and/or external speakers.

In various embodiments, the device 1100 may provide for certain visualdisplay capabilities. For example, the LCD screen 1102 may help the usermake sure that the measures being captured (photographed) are themeasures that are intended to be heard. The LCD screen 1102, completewith a cursor 1136, displays the music passage 1104 as the passage isplayed back, either from a passage that was photographed by the user orfrom a music-card with stored data. The cursor indicates the exact musicposition in the score of the current note(s) being played as the musicpassage 1104 is played in real time, regardless of the specified tempo.Rather than a traditional type of moving cursor, the cursor 1136 caninstead indicate the note being played by highlighting the note (e.g.,making it brighter) or by giving it a different display color from theother notes as it is played. Another option is for the LCD screen 1102to show the names of the notes (both in English and in solfege) 1138,particularly for a single-line music passage 1104. If the music passage1104 is comprised of multiple simultaneous music lines, the user canspecify the line for which the names of notes 1138 are displayed.

The LCD screen 1102 may also show an indicator of the music passage 1104selected for play. The indicator is referred to as the passage marker1139. In FIG. 11, the passage marker 1139 is shown as numeral “1”enclosed in a circle. The numerical “1” indicates the first measure ofthe music passage 1104 is currently being displayed, and the circleindicates that playback was initiated at the first measure. If playbackcontinues to the next measure, a “2” would be displayed in place of the“1”, but the “2” would not be circled.

In another embodiment, the device 1100 may provide recording sensorfunctionality. For example, the microphone 1112 may be configured sothat the user can record him/herself playing (and/or singing) the musicpassage 1104 in question and immediately play back the recording tocompare the user's performance with that of the device 1100 (that is, ofa previously recorded or synthesized rendition). This feature may behelpful for students to make adjustments in notes, tuning, rhythm, anddynamics. As noted above, a user performance can be recorded via themicrophone 1112 to provide the “music dictation” feature.

Some embodiments of the device 1100 provide wireless capabilities. Forexample, the device 1100 may be operable to permit wirelesscommunications with networks and other wireless-enabled device, and topermit downloads of encoded music files with contextual information. Thefeatures described herein can be provided, for example, by eMusesoftware installed to a wireless platform, such as a PDA or smartphone,for portable music interaction. In addition, the device 1100 may usecomputing and memory (and playback audio) of a home PC and/or stereosystem, or another component.

In another embodiment, a user's performance may be recorded by thedevice 1100 and the user's performance may be subjected to a music noteinterpretation processing to generate data from which is produced adisplay of the music notes corresponding to the user's recordedperformance. In this way, the device can take “musical dictation” andcan convert a live audio performance by the user into a visual displayof the music score corresponding to the performance. Thus, the musicinterpretation features of the device can process both music score datareceived by optical or electronic network communication, and can processmusic score data produced by a user's live performance, captured by amicrophone.

the software described herein can be used in a variety of platforms. Inone embodiment, aspects of eMuse are embedded in a high-end cell phonein which the cell-phone camera photographs a specific passage in a musicscore. The captured image is then compressed and sent to a remoteserver, which performs OCR operations on the image data to interpret theimage into corresponding music note information. The server then sendsback both a midi file and a graphic file, enabling this version of eMuseto play the music that was photographed and display the notes on the LCDas they are played.

FIG. 12 provides a simplified illustration of a process flow diagramthat illustrates operation of an embodiment of the device 1100 in FIG.11. In an initial operation, a digital representation of a music scoreis provided to the device. The digital representation can be received bya visual presentation 1202 to the device, such as a printed page, whichis digitally captured using a digital image capture device 1204, such asa digital camera that operates with the device. The digital data derivedfrom optical input 1206 is then provided to a note data interpretationprocess 1208. Alternatively, the digital representation of the musicscore can be provided electronically 1210, such as by wirelesstransmission of digital data corresponding to the music score or wiredtransmission of the data over a network, or input through a storagemedia such as a memory card or other media. The electronically receivedversion of the music score 1210 is then provided to the note datainterpretation process 1208.

The note data interpretation process 1208 receives the digital datacorresponding to the music score and processes it to produce a set ofmusic notes and concomitant information sufficient to specify the musicscore and enable its reproduction by suitable hardware. The process 1208comprises a processor trained with machine learning techniques torecognize the music score digital data 1206, 1210 and produceappropriate transformed data. The process 1208 can be trained, forexample, using neural network software engineering techniques toincrease the accuracy of the interpretation process up to substantially100% accuracy. In accordance with the present invention, the incomingmusic score data must be produced for audio and visual presentation tothe user in real time, and therefore interpretation of the incomingmusic score data must be in real time and must approach 100% accuracy ofinterpretation (transformation). The process 1208 utilizes opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) techniques, but is adapted for music noterecognition and interpretation of digital data (electronic or opticalscan derived) to an appropriate representation.

The interpretation process output 1212 comprises a visual presentationof the music score, which is provided to a display screen 1214 of thedevice, and also a synthesized audio rendition of the music score, whichis provided to appropriate device systems and hardware 1216 for audiopresentation through loudspeakers of the device, or the like.

Other Capabilities

It will be appreciated that many other capabilities are possible inaddition to those described above. One set of additional processingcapabilities involves increasing the amount of customizability that isprovided to a user. For example, embodiments may allow for enhancedcustomizability of various components and methods of the invention.

In some embodiments, the various thresholds, windows, and other inputsto the components and methods may each be adjustable for variousreasons. For example, the user may be able to adjust the key extractionwindow, if it appears that key determinations are being made too often(e.g., the user may not want brief departures from the key to show up asa key change on the score). For another example, a recording may includea background noise coming from 60 Hz power used during the performanceon the recording. The user may wish to adjust various filter algorithmsto ignore this 60 Hz pitch, so as not to represent it as a low note onthe score. In still another example, the user may adjust the resolutionof music bins into which pitches are quantized to adjust note pitchresolution.

In other embodiments, less customizability may be provided to the user.In one embodiment, the user may be able to adjust a representationalaccuracy level. The user may input (e.g., via a physical or virtualslider, knob, switch, etc.) whether the system should generate moreaccurate or less accurate score representations, based on one or moreparameter, including selecting the accuracy for individualscore-representational elements, like tempo and pitch.

For example, a number of internal settings may work together so that theminimum note value is a sixteenth note. By adjusting therepresentational accuracy, longer or shorter durations may be detectedand represented as the minimum value. This may be useful where aperformer is not performing strictly to a constant beat (e.g., there isno percussion section, no metronome, etc.), and too sensitive a systemmay yield undesirable representations (e.g., triple-dotted notes). Asanother example, a number of internal settings may work together so thatthe minimum pitch change is a half-step (i.e., notes on the chromaticscale).

In still other embodiments, even less customizability may be provided tothe user. In one embodiment, the user may input whether he or she is anovice user or an advanced user. In another embodiment, the user mayinput whether the system should have high or low sensitivity. In eitherembodiment, many different parameters in many components or methods mayadjust together to fit the desired level. For example, in one case, asinger may wish to accurately transcribe every waver in pitch andduration (e.g., as a practice aid to find mistakes, or to faithfullyreproduce a specific performance with all its aesthetic subtleties);while in another case, the singer may wish to generate an easy to readscore for publication by having the system ignore small deviations.

In certain embodiments, the level of customizability, types offunctionality, and other aspects of the systems or methods may bedictated in different ways. In one embodiment, the user may selectcertain preferences, manipulate certain physical or virtual controls, orotherwise actively interact with the system to determine those aspects.In another embodiment, the system may automatically select variousaspects (e.g., from login and/or profile information relating to theuser, from the user's pattern of use of the system, etc.).

Another set of additional capabilities involves using different types ofinput to refine or otherwise affect the processing of the input audiosignal. One embodiment uses one or more trained artificial neuralnetworks (ANN's) to refine certain determinations. For example,psycho-acoustical determinations (e.g., meter, key, instrumentation,etc.) may be well-suited to using trained ANN's.

Another embodiment provides the user with the ability to layer multipletracks (e.g., a one-man band). The user may begin by performing a drumtrack, which is processed in real time using the system of theinvention. The user may then serially perform a guitar track, a keyboardtrack, and a vocal track, each of which is processed. In some cases, theuser may select multiple tracks to process together, while in othercases, the user may opt to have each track processed separately. Theinformation from some tracks may then be used to refine or direct theprocessing of other tracks. For example, the drum track may beindependently processed to generate high-confidence tempo and meterinformation. The tempo and meter information may then be used with theother tracks to more accurately determine note durations and notevalues. For another example, the guitar track may provide many pitchesover small windows of time, which may make it easier to determine key.The key determination may then be used to assign key pitchdeterminations to the notes in the keyboard track. For yet anotherexample, the multiple tracks may be aligned, quantized, or normalized inone or more dimension (e.g., the tracks may be normalized to have thesame tempo, average volume, pitch range, pitch resolution, minimum noteduration, etc.). Further, in some embodiments of the “one-man band”, theuser may use one instrument to generate the audio signal, then use thesystem or methods to convert to a different instrument or instruments(e.g., play all four tracks of a quartet using a keyboard, and use thesystem to convert the keyboard input into a string quartet). In somecases, this may involve adjusting the timbre, transposing the musiclines, and other processing.

Still another embodiment uses inputs extrinsic to the music input signalto refine or direct the processing. In one embodiment, genre informationis received either from a user, from another system (e.g., a computersystem or the Internet), or from header information in the digital audiofile to refine various cost functions. For example, key cost functionsmay be different for blues, Indian classical, folk, etc.; or differentinstrumentation may be more likely in different genres (e.g. an“organ-like” sound may be more likely an organ in hymnal music and morelikely an accordion in Polka music).

Another set of additional capabilities involves using information acrossmultiple components or methods to refine complex determinations. In oneembodiment, the output of the instrument identification method is usedto refine determinations based on known capabilities or limitations ofthe identified instruments. For example, say the instrumentidentification method determines that a music line is likely beingplayed by a piano. However, the pitch identification method determinesthat the music line contains rapid, shallow vibrato (e.g., warbling ofthe pitch within only one or two semitones of the detected key pitchdesignation). Because this is not typically a possible effect to produceon a piano, the system may determine that the line is being played byanother instrument (e.g., an electronic keyboard or an organ).

Yet another set of additional capabilities involves using the variousfunctions of the systems and methods for handling ring tones (e.g., forcell phones, voice-over-internet-protocol phones, and other devices). Inone embodiment, deconstructed music elements are manipulated to fit thespecifications of a ring tone. For example, some devices may havelimitations on the bandwidth for a ring tone, the depth of polyphony,and the length. Therefore, in some cases, the system may automaticallyadjust a collaboration project to fit the ring tone specifications, ormay prompt a user with the information desired or required to guide theuser according to those specifications. The user may then be able to,for example, listen to the ring tone, download the ring tone to a cellphone or other device (or a storage location), share the ring tone withothers over the network, auction or sell the ring tone, etc.

Still another set of additional capabilities involves configuring audioor score output as a product for sale or auction. For example, acollaboration portal may include music auctioning functionality or musicstore functionality. The shopping functions may include capabilitiesrelating to royalty and pricing, voting (e.g., featuring the mostpopular over a given time span, or the winner gets special featuring onthe portal), search by device or specification, different paymentprocessing, secure e-commerce, copyright protection and digital rightsmanagement, etc.

And another set of additional capabilities involves using deconstructedor received music elements to search for similar works to avoid (ordetect) copyright infringement. This capability may require additionalmodules to be incorporated into the systems or additional steps to beincorporated into the methods to tailor a search for this particularresult. For example, in some embodiments, information relating tocopyright laws and policies may be provided to help the systems andmethods determine if there is potential infringement.

Some embodiments of the collaboration portal may include this and othertypes of search functionality. For example, it may be desirable toprovide a musical analog to “clip art” whereby a collaborator may searchfor particular type of musical theme (e.g., the “Hawaii Five-O” drumfill, etc.) to add to a project. Other types of information may also besearched. For example, a collaborator may wish to find a similar pieceand look at a score representation to determine how the piece wasorchestrated; or look at a similar chord sequence and find any jazzvocal improvisations which have interpreted similar chord sequences tohelp formulate an interesting vocal line. It will be appreciated thatmany ways of music-based searching are possible to provide this andother functionality. Some embodiments of music-based searching aredescribed more fully in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/031,654filed Feb. 14, 2008 entitled “MUSIC-BASED SEARCH ENGINE” to Robert D.Taub, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes.

Even another set of additional capabilities involves adding music tovideo information. In some embodiments, the collaboration portal mayallow users to provide video data. For example, a user may provide avideo clip for use as inspiration for the collaboration project, as amusic video to synchronize with the collaboration project, as a sectionof a larger video project (e.g., a movie) for which the collaboratorsare writing a score, etc. In another example, a user may provide certaintime code information (e.g., Society of Motion Picture and TelevisionEngineers (“SMPTE”) time codes) for use by the collaborators insynchronizing the collaborative audio project with a video project.

It will be appreciated that many such additional processing capabilitiesare possible, according to the invention. Further, it should be notedthat the methods, systems, and devices discussed above are intendedmerely to be examples. It must be stressed that various embodiments mayomit, substitute, or add various procedures or components asappropriate. For instance, it should be appreciated that, in alternativeembodiments, the methods may be performed in an order different fromthat described, and that various steps may be added, omitted, orcombined. Also, features described with respect to certain embodimentsmay be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects andelements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. Also,it should be emphasized that technology evolves and, thus, many of theelements are examples and should not be interpreted to limit the scopeof the invention.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. For example, well-known circuits,processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shownwithout unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.Further, the headings provided herein are intended merely to aid in theclarity of the descriptions of various embodiments, and should not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the invention or the functionality ofany part of the invention. For example, certain methods or componentsmay be implemented as part of other methods or components, even thoughthey are described under different headings.

Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a processwhich is depicted as a flow diagram or block diagram. Although each maydescribe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operationscan be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order ofthe operations may be rearranged. A process may have additional stepsnot included in the figure.

1. A method for processing music contributions over a network, themethod comprising: receiving a music contribution at a portal, the musiccontribution comprising a set of music elements and the portal beingaccessible over the network; and generating music output at the portalrelating to at least a portion of the music contribution and in responseto at least one collaboration request received at the portal over thenetwork; wherein the at least one collaboration request relates to theset of music elements; and wherein at least one music element of the setof music elements is generated by deconstructing at least a portion ofthe music contribution.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein deconstructingcomprises: receiving the music contribution; determining musicmicro-elements of the music contribution; determining musicmacro-elements based on the determined music micro-elements.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the set of music elements identify componentsof the music contribution at multiple time intervals within the musiccontribution.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the components of themusic contribution are identified relative to a recorded performance. 5.The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the musiccontribution at the portal, the music contribution comprising an audiosignal; and deconstructing the audio signal to generate at least aportion of the set of music elements.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe at least one music element generated from deconstruction comprises amusic score representation.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the musiccontribution is a first music contribution, and the method furthercomprises: receiving a second music contribution at the portal, thesecond music contribution comprising an audio signal.
 8. A system forprocessing music contributions over a network, the system comprising: aportal, the portal being accessible over the network by a plurality ofuser workstations and comprising: a collaboration unit, operable to:receive a music contribution comprising a set of music elements; andgenerate music output relating to at least a portion of the musiccontribution and in response to at least one collaboration requestreceived at the portal over the network; an editing unit, operable toprovide a set of editing capabilities for editing music elements basedat least in part on the collaboration request; an output generationunit, operable to generate output data based at least in part on themusic contribution and the collaboration request; and a networkinterface unit, operable to facilitation communications via the networkbetween the plurality of workstations and the portal; wherein the atleast one collaboration request relates to the set of music elements;and wherein at least one music element of the set of music elements isgenerated by deconstructing at least a portion of the musiccontribution.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein deconstructingcomprises: receiving the music contribution; determining musicmicro-elements of the music contribution; determining musicmacro-elements based on the determined music micro-elements.
 10. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the set of music elements identify componentsof the music contribution at multiple time intervals within the musiccontribution.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the components of themusic contribution are identified relative to a recorded performance.12. The system of claim 8, further comprising: an audio deconstructionunit, operable to: receive a music contribution comprising an audiosignal; and deconstruct the audio signal and generate at least a portionof the set of music elements.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein theaudio deconstruction unit is resident on at least one of the pluralityof workstations.
 14. The system of claim 8, further comprising: a scoredeconstruction unit, operable to: receive a score image; and deconstructthe score image into a set of music elements.
 15. The system of claim14, wherein the score deconstruction unit is resident on at least one ofthe plurality of workstations.
 16. The system of claim 8, wherein the atleast one music element generated from deconstruction comprises a musicscore representation.
 17. A computer-readable storage medium having acomputer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of aportal for processing of music contributions over a network including acollaboration unit, the collaboration unit including an editing unit, anoutput generation unit, and a network interface unit, thecomputer-readable program including computer executable instructions forcollaborative handling of a music contribution in accordance with thefollowing: receiving a music contribution at a portal, the musiccontribution comprising a set of music elements and the portal beingaccessible over the network; and generating music output at the portalrelating to at least a portion of the music contribution and in responseto at least one collaboration request received at the portal over thenetwork; wherein the at least one collaboration request relates to theset of music elements; and wherein at least one music element of the setof music elements is generated by deconstructing at least a portion ofthe music contribution.
 18. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 17, wherein deconstructing comprises: receiving the musiccontribution; determining music micro-elements of the musiccontribution; determining music macro-elements based on the determinedmusic micro-elements.
 19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim17, wherein the set of music elements identify components of the musiccontribution at multiple time intervals within the music contribution.20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein thecomponents of the music contribution are identified relative to arecorded performance.
 21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim17, further comprising: receiving the music contribution at the portal,the music contribution comprising an audio signal; and deconstructingthe audio signal to generate at least a portion of the set of musicelements.
 22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, whereinthe at least one music element generated from deconstruction comprises amusic score representation.
 23. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 17, wherein the music contribution is a first music contribution,and the method further comprises: receiving a second music contributionat the portal, the second music contribution comprising an audio signal.24. A method for processing music contributions over a network, themethod comprising: receiving a music contribution at a portal, the musiccontribution comprising a set of music elements and the portal beingaccessible over the network; receiving a plurality of collaborationrequests at the portal over the network, each of the plurality ofcollaboration requests relating at least in part to the musiccontribution; and generating music output at the portal relating to atleast a portion of the music contribution and in response to at leastone of the collaboration requests; wherein at least one collaborationrequest relates to the set of music elements; and wherein the set ofmusic elements identify components of the music contribution relative toa recorded performance at multiple time intervals within the musiccontribution.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one musicelement of the set of music elements is generated by deconstructing atleast a portion of the music contribution.
 26. The method of claim 24,further comprising: receiving the music contribution at the portal, themusic contribution comprising an audio signal; and deconstructing theaudio signal to generate at least a portion of the set of musicelements.
 27. The method of claim 24, wherein the music contribution isa first music contribution, and the method further comprises: receivinga second music contribution at the portal, the second music contributioncomprising an audio signal.
 28. The method of claim 24, wherein at leasta first portion of the plurality of collaboration requests is from afirst user workstation, and at least a second portion of the pluralityof collaboration requests is from a second user workstation.
 29. Asystem for processing music contributions over a network, the systemcomprising: a portal, the portal being accessible over the network by aplurality of user workstations, the portal comprising: a collaborationunit, operable to: receive a music contribution from a selected one ofthe plurality of user workstations, the music contribution comprising aset of music elements; and receive a collaboration request that relatesat least in part to the music contribution, wherein the set of musicelements identify components of the music contribution relative to arecorded performance at multiple time intervals within the musiccontribution; an editing unit, operable to provide a set of editingcapabilities for editing music elements based at least in part on thecollaboration request; an output generation unit, operable to generateoutput data based at least in part on the music contribution and thecollaboration request received at the portal; and a network interfaceunit, operable to facilitation communications via the network betweenthe workstation and the portal.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein atleast one music element of the set of music elements is generated bydeconstructing at least a portion of the music contribution.
 31. Thesystem of claim 29, further comprising: an audio deconstruction unit,operable to: receive a music contribution; and deconstruct the musiccontribution into a set of music elements.
 32. The system of claim 31,wherein the audio deconstruction unit is resident on at least one of theplurality of workstations.
 33. The system of claim 29, a scoredeconstruction unit, operable to: receive a score image; and deconstructthe score image into a set of music elements.
 34. The system of claim33, wherein the score deconstruction unit is resident on at least one ofthe plurality of workstations.
 35. The system of claim 29, wherein themusic contribution is a first music contribution, and the collaborationunit is configured to receive a second music contribution that comprisesan audio signal.
 36. The system of claim 29, further comprising: a scoredeconstruction unit, operable to: receive a score image; and deconstructthe score image into a set of music elements.
 37. A computer-readablestorage medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein fordirecting operation of a portal for processing music contributions overa network including a collaboration unit, the collaboration unitincluding an editing unit, an output generation unit, and a networkinterface unit, the computer-readable program including computerexecutable instructions for processing of a music contribution inaccordance with the following: receiving the music contribution at theportal, the music contribution comprising a set of music elements andthe portal being accessible over the network; receiving a collaborationrequest over the network from a user workstation, such that thecollaboration request relates at least in part to the musiccontribution, wherein the set of music elements identify components ofthe music contribution relative to a recorded performance at multipletime intervals within the music contribution; and generating musicoutput at the portal relating to at least a portion of the musiccontribution and in response to the collaboration request; wherein atleast one collaboration request relates to the set of music elements;and wherein the set of music elements define musical parameters of themusic contribution relative to a recorded performance at multiple timeintervals within the music contribution.
 38. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 37, wherein at least one music element of theset of music elements is generated by deconstructing at least a portionof the music contribution.
 39. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 37, further comprising: receiving the music contribution at theportal, the music contribution comprising an audio signal; anddeconstructing the audio signal to generate at least a portion of theset of music elements.
 40. The computer-readable storage medium of claim37, wherein the music contribution is a first music contribution, andthe method further comprises: receiving a second music contribution atthe portal, the second music contribution comprising an audio signal.41. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 37, wherein at least afirst portion of the plurality of collaboration requests is from a firstuser workstation, and at least a second portion of the plurality ofcollaboration requests is from a second user workstation.